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WO  Hundredtn  Anniversary 


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UNIV.  OF  MASSACHUSETTS/AMHERST 
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GIFT  TO 

UNIVERSITY  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 
LIBRARY 

from 
THOMAS   A.    STEINBUCH   '76 


Present    Church     Edifice  —  Erected     1792,     Remodeled    1842 


'm/u  ^eqimieH  jj/  ^linuli  ^isiorjg 


CELEBRATION 


TWO  HUNDREDTH  ANNIVERSARY 


OF  THE  ORGANIZATION 


OF    THE 


IN 


ESSEX,    MASS., 


August   19-22,    188, 


SALEM: 
J.   H.   Choate  &  Co.,   Printers. 

18S4. 


^I^ELIMINAI^Y, 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Essex  held 
January  9th,  1883,  it  was  voted  —  'That  this  Church  observe 
the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of  its  organization  by  holding 
services  appropriate  to  the  occasion." 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  it  was  voted  that  the  anniversary 
have  reference  to  the  organization  of  the  Parish  as  well  as  of 
the  Church  and  the  parish  were  invited  to  join  in  the  pro- 
posed celebration. 

A  committee  of  the  church  was  appointed  and  at  the 
Annual  Parish  meeting,  held  April  i6th,  a  committee  was 
chosen  to  unite  with  the  committee  of  the  church  in  makinsf 

o 

all  necessary  arrangements  for  the  occasion. 
The  following  are  the  committees : 

^ommiittz  of  tje  CJitrcfj. 

Dea.  Caleb  S.  Gage,  Rufus  Choate,         Reuben  Morris, 

And  the  Acting  Pastor,  Ex  Officio. 

Committxe  of  tfje  Parisf). 

Addison  Cogswell,  Dea.  Caleb  Cogswell, 

Henry  W.  Mears. 

©tt  Entertainment. 

Frank  E.  Burnham,  Mrs.  Hervey  Burnham, 

Henry  W.  Mears,  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Osgood, 

Reuben  Morris,  Mrs.  D.  Webster  Cogswell, 

Joseph  Procter,  Jr.,  Mrs.  Philip  T.  Adams, 

D.  Brainard  Burnham,  Mrs.  Josiah  Low, 

Francis  Haskell,  Miss  Lizzie  M.  Norton. 


Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 
D.  Brainard  Burnham,  Joseph  Procter,  Jr. 

©n  ©frorations. 

Miss  Ellen  Boyd,  Mrs.  Albert  L.  Butler, 

Mrs.  George  Procter,  Mrs,  George  A.  Fuller, 

RuFus  Choate. 

©n  Jlusic. 

William  C.  Choate,  Rufus  Choate, 

Mrs.  Hervey  Burnham,  Miss  Carrie  O.  Spofford. 

(©n  \\t  Eent. 

Henry  W.  Mears. 

©n  Printing. 

Rev.  F.  H.  Palmer.  Rufus  Choate. 


Ol^DEI=^   OP    CXEI^GISES. 

Sunday,  August  igth,  at  2  p.m. 
MEMORIAL  SERMON  by  Rev.  F.  H.  Palmer,  Acting  Pastor. 

Wednesday,  August  22nd,  p.jo  a.m. 

VOLUNTARY. 

ANTHEM  ....."  Strike  the  Cymbal." 

INVOCATION  .  .  bv  Rev.  F.  H.  Palmer,  Acting  Pastor. 

READING  OF  SCRIPTURE  .         by  Ex  Pastor  Rev.  J.  L.  Harris. 

PRAYER  .  .  .  by  ^x  Pastor  Rev.  D.  A.  Morehouse. 

ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME  .  .  by  the  Acting  Pastor. 

HISTORICAL  DISCOURSE 

by  Rev.   Prof.  E.  P.  Crowell  of  Amherst  College. 
HYMN  (Old  Style)        .  .  .         Lined  oft' by  Bro.  Rufus  Choate. 

ADDRESS  ON  REV.  JOHN    WISE 

by  Rev.  H.  M.  Dexter,  D.D..  of  Boston. 

HYMN. 

At  the  close  of  the  morning  services  the  congregation  adjourned  to  the 
neighboring  cemetery  where  prayer  was  oftered  at  the  grave  of  Rev,  John 
Wise  bv  Prof.  E.  A.  Park,  D.D.,  of  Andover,  Mass. 


Tzvo  HundrcdtJi  Aiinivcrsary.  5 

1-2.J0  p.m. 

COLLATION,  IN    THE    VESTRY. 

2. JO  p.m. 
ANTHEM  •  .  .  .  .  .  .     "Denmark." 

GREETING  from  the  Mother  Church, 

by  Rev.  E.  B.  Palmer  of  Ipswich. 
GREETING  from  Sister  Churches, 

by  Rev.  F.  G.  Clark,  of  Gloucester. 
REMINISCENCES  OF  DR.   CROWELL 

by  Rev.  Jeremiah  Taylor,  D.D.,  of  Providence,  R.I. 
LETTERS. 

REMARKS by  Prof.   Park  of  Andover. 

HYMN. 

BENEDICTION. 

SOCIAL  REUNION  IN  THE  VESTRY  7.30  p.m. 

Invitations  were  sent  out  to  neighboring  churches  and 
pastors,  and  to  all  old  friends  and  members  of  the  church  so 
far  as  their  addresses  could  be  learned.  A  mammoth  tent 
was  erected  on  the  grounds  of  Mr.  Daniel  W.  Low,  and  the 
weather  proving  auspicious,  about  a  thousand  persons  assem- 
bled to  listen  to  the  public  exercises.  The  old  pulpit  used  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  by  Rev.  John  Cleave- 
land,  and  afterwards  during  the  ministry  of  Revs.  Josiah 
Webster,  Thomas  Holt,  and  Dr.  Crowell  was  placed  upon  the 
platform  for  the  accommodation  of  the  speakers. 

Rev.  Mr.  Palmer,  Acting  Pastor,  presided  and  in  his  address 
of  welcome  extended  a  cordial  greeting  to  all,  indulged  in 
the  thoughts  which  the  lapse  of  two  hundred  years  would 
naturally  suggest  and  concluded  by  saying  that  we  glory  in 
these  old  names  which  cluster  around  our  early  history  as  we 
rehearse  their  deeds. 

At  the  close  of  the  forenoon  services  an  aged  man  who  well 
remembered  the  raising  of  the  present  meeting  house,  in  1 792, 
was  introduced  to  the  congregation.  This  was  Mr.  Andrew 
Burnham  in  his  99th  year.  He  came  forward  and  occupied 
the  platform  during  the  singing  of  the  last  hymn. 


6  Congregational  CJultcJl  and  Parish,  Essex. 

The  collation  which  was  served  by  the  ladies  at  noon  was 
one  of  the  most  bountiful  ever  known  in  Jhe  history  of  the 
town. 

The  music  of  the  day,  which  was  most  excellent,  was  under 
the  direction  of  the  organist  of  the  church  Mr.  William  C. 
Choate. 

The  vestry  and  audience  room  were  well  filled  during  the 
evening  where  a  season  of  social  intercourse  was  greatly  en- 
joyed. Brief  but  eloquent  addresses  were  made  by  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  day  Rev.  Mr.  Palmer,  Ex  Pastor  Rev.  J.  L. 
Harris,  Rev.  George  L.  Gleason  of  Byfield,  John  Howard 
Burnham,  Esq.,  of  Bloomington,  111.,  and  Rev.  D.  O.  Mears, 
D.  D.  of  Worcester.  An  original  Poem  written  for  the  occa- 
sion by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Lane  of  Boston,  formerly  a  member 
of  this  society,  was  read  by  Miss  Ida  P.  Howes. 

The  choir  and  band  discoursed  sweet  music  between  the 
addresses.  The  services  of  the  day  closed  with  prayer  by 
the  acting  pastor  and  the  singing  of  the  doxology. 

The  following  account  of  the  church  decorations  is  taken 
from  the  Boston  Journal  of  the  next  day : 

The  church  interior  was  handsomely  decorated  for  the  occasion,  appar- 
ently at  much  labor  and  expense.  A  large  floral  arch  was  over  the  altar, 
and  in  the  centre  were  the  words  : 

"PROFANE  NOT  THE  COVENANT  OF  OUR  FATHERS." 
This  was  flanked  by  the  dates  1683  ^"^  1883.  Suspended  from  the  arch 
was  a  tablet  inclosed  in  evergreen  and  scarlet  geraniums,  bearing  the 
words  of  Acts  x,  33,  which  formed  the  text  when  the  present  church  was 
dedicated  in  1793.  A  floral  work  suspended  from  the  ceiling  was  attractive 
from  its  composition  of  ferns  and  myrtle  leaves.  The  pulpit  was  almost 
hidden  from  view  by  gladioli  and  other  flowers.  The  walls  were  decorated 
at  appropriate  points  with  ornamental  crosses,  wreaths  and  flowers  in  va- 
rious designs.  The  balcony  front  centre  was  arrayed  in  festoons  of  white 
trimmed  with  trailing  ivy,  and  the  right  and  left  of  the  balcony  were  fes- 
tooned with  the  American  colors.  The  balcony  rail  was  surmounted  with 
pots  of  rare  exotics,  and  also  golden  rod,  ferns,  oak  leaves,  etc.  There 
was  much  to  please  the  eye  in  the  general  adornment. 

The  location  of  the  first  church  building,  raised  in  April 
1679,  was  marked  by  flags;   also  that  of  the  second   house  of 


Tivo  HtindrcdtJi  Anniversary.  y 

worship  raised   in    1718.     Some  of  the  foundation  stones  of 
this  building  still  remain  beneath  the  soil.     A  flag  waving 
rom  each  corner  clearly  revealed  the  exact  location  of  the 
building  to  many  interested  visitors. 

The  spot  on  which  Rev.  John  Wise  lived  during  the  first 
twenty  years  of  his  ministry,  was  also  indicated  by  a  flag. 

A  wreath  of  evergreen  upon  the  tombstones  of  Revs. 
Theophilus  Pickering  and  John  Cleaveland,  in  the  old  ceme- 
tery, marked  the  last  resting  place  of  those  divines. 

The  tablet  of  slate  in  the  monument  over  Mr.  Wise's  grave 
having  been  injured,  was  replaced  by  one  of  more  durable 
quality  bearing,  however,  the  same  epitaph.  This  gift  was 
through  the  generosity  of  a  parishioner  Mr.  Addison  Cogswell. 

Among  the  large  company  from  abroad  who  manifested  a 
hearty  interest  in  the  occasion  were  many  members  of  the 
families  of  former  pastors  of  the  Church.  The  families  of 
Pickering,  Cleaveland,  Crowell,  Bacon,  Morehouse  and  Har- 
ris were  well  represented. 

The  warm  interest  and  sympathy  of  absent  members  who 
had  returned  to  their  former  spiritual  home,  the  devotion  of 
the  entire  Parish  to  the  duties  of  the  hour,  the  presence  and 
congratulations  of  many  families  of  the  town,  not  now  in 
church  relations  with  us,  but  whose  ancestors  for  many  gen- 
erations worshipped  at  this  altar,  the  delightful  memories 
revived  by  the  various  exercises,  all  combined  to  make  this  a 
most  interesting  and  long  to  be  remembered  Anniversary. 


(DBMor^iAL  Sei^mon 


BY  REV.  F.  H    PALMER,  ACTING  PASTOR. 


Preached  on  Sunday,  August   19,  1883,  in  the  First  Con- 
gregational Church.* 

''For  cnqiure,  I  pray  thee,  of  the  former  age,  and  prepare 
thyself  to  the  search  of  tJieir  fatJicrs!'    Job  8  :  8. 

On  the  first  day  of  January,  181  5,  a  sermon  was  preached 
from  these  words  by  the  Rev.  Robert  Crowell,  who  had  been 
ordained  pastor  of  this  church  five  months  before.  In  the 
printed  copies  of  that  sermon  there  is  an  explanatory  note, 
stating  that  *'  the  following  discourse  consists  of  a  compila- 
tion of  facts  the  knowledge  of  which  it  was  thought  might 
be  useful  to  the  rising  generation  of  this  parish;"  and  ex- 
pressing the  hope  ''that  it  may  serve  to  increase  the  knowl- 
edge of  their  fathers,  and  lead  them,  through  divine  grace, 
to  imitate  their  pious  and  devout  examples." 


*In  conducting  the  services  Mr.  Palmer  used  what  is  probably  the  oldest 
Bible  to  be  found  in  any  family  in  this  section.  It  is  the  property  of  Mrs. 
Winthrop  Low.     Upon  the  fly-leaf  it  is  written  : 

"The  title  page  and  several  leaves  at  the  beginning  are  missing.  This 
Bible  was  without  doubt  brought  from  England  by  the  first  settlers,  bearing 
the  name  of  Low." 

"The  Old  and  New  Testament,  printed  by  Christopher  Barker,  in  the 
year  1579."     (See  fac  simile.) 

"The  Whole  Book  of  Psalms,  by  Sternhold,  Hopkins  and  others,  printed 
as  follows:  'At  London,  printed  by  John  Days,  dwelling  over  Addersgate. 
An.  1578.      Cum  Privilegio  Regiae  Majestatis' '" 

"Susanna  Low,  her  Book,  1667,  May  19.  Thomas  Low,  his  Book. 
(Both  names  appear  to  have  been  written  very  nearly  at  the  same  time.) 

"The  names  of  Samuel  Low  and  John  Low,  written  probably  near  200 
years  ago.  also  are  found  on  the  blank  leaves." 


lO  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

In  the  providence  of  God  we  are  again  reminded,  by  the 
occurrence  of  our  two  hundredth  anniversary,  of  the  appro- 
priateness and  profit  of  turning  our  glances  backward  and 
observing  the  events  of  the  past,  in  which  the  successes  and 
the  failures  of  our  forefathers  have  been  wrought  out.  It  is 
necessary  to  pause  occasionally,  at  appropriate  periods,  and 
review  the  past.  The  events  which  make  up  our  human 
experience  succeed  each  other  so  rapidly, — so  swift  is  the 
current  that  is  sweeping  us  onward  through  our  brief  span  of 
life  toward  eternity,  —  that  we  hardly  realize  the  meaning  of 
what  is  taking  place  around  us.  No  age  can  truly  estimate 
its  own  power  and  significance.  It  is  the  part  of  the  future 
to  rate  the  time  that  now  is.  Hence  the  propriety  of  these 
anniversary  seasons.  We  are  to  view  the  past  as  a  written 
page  of  instruction,  which  will  teach  us  the  meaning  of  God's 
providence,  and  disclose  to  us  the  value  of  life,  and  lead  us 
to  appreciate  the  blessings  and  opportunities  which  accrue  to 
us  from  the  devout  and  self-denying  labors  of  those  who 
have  gone  before. 

More  than  sixty-eight  years  have  passed  away  since  Dr. 
Crowell  used  these  words  of  Job's  friend  to  turn  our  fathers' 
thoughts  back  to  the  earlier  history  of  their  then  ancient 
church.  That  which  was  new  in  that  day  has  become  old 
now,  and  that  which  was  old  then  has  become  very,  very  old. 
"The  fathers"  upon  whose  ''pious  and  devout  examples"  our 
fathers  reflected,  have  become  great-great-grandfathers  to 
those  living  at  the  present  day.  We  have  the  pious  examples 
of  many  generations  to  reflect  upon.  We  have  the  accu- 
mulated experiences  of  a  long  line  of  godly  ancestors.  We 
can  study  their  deeds  and  their  principles ;  and  profiting  by 
the  dispassionate  verdict  of  time  upon  their  various  doings 
we  can  judge,  with  some  degree  of  accuracy,  of  the  wisdom  and 
earnestness  of  their  lives,  and  of  the  quality  of  the  institutions 
which  they  founded  for  the  promotion  of  human  happiness  and 
for  the   glory  of  God.     We  can  judge,  too,  of  the  progress  of 


Two  HundrcdtJi  Anniversary.  1 1 

ideas,  and  of  the  advance  that  this  world  has  been  making  in 
attainments,  physical,  intellectual  and  spiritual,  since  their 
day.  We  may  thus  find  abundant  cause  for  congratulation  ; 
we  may  thus  learn  many  needed  lessons,  and  gain  many 
valuable  encouragements  which  will  aid  us  in  maintaining 
the  institutions  which  they  have  founded,  and  help  us  to 
hand  these  down,  in  turn,  to  posterity,  with  new  demonstra- 
tions of  their  usefulness  and  power.  If  our  present  signifi- 
cant anniversary  shall  do  this  for  us,  —  if  our  rich  past  shall 
thus  instruct  us,  it  will  not  be  in  vain  that  we  "enquire,"  to- 
day, **of  the  former  age,"  and  prepare  ourselves  "to  the 
search  of  their  fathers." 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  review,  on  this  occasion,  the  facts 
in  our  history  in  the  order  of  their  occurrence.  The  story 
of  the  founding  of  this  church  and  the  detailed  history  of  its 
twelve  pastorates  is  an  interesting  narrative.  The  fullness 
and  accuracy  with  which  it  can  and  will  be  related,  is  due 
almost  wholly  to  the  disinterested  labors  of  that  revered 
pastor  to  whom  I  have  already  referred.  And  it  is  an  espec- 
ially felicitous  circumstance  that  we  may  have  for  our 
historian  on  this  occasion,  one  who  by  nature  and  inheritance, 
is  so  especially  qualified  for  the  task. 

Without  trespassing  at  all  on  the  province  of  others  who 
are  to  review  the  events  of  these  two  centuries  of  church 
and  parish  life  in  this  community,  I  wish  to  direct  your 
attention,  to-day,  to  some  more  general  matters  which  have 
a  direct  bearing  upon  the  results  of  these  fruitful  years.  The 
first  and  proper  business  of  the  historian  is  to  narrate  facts, 
to  set  forth  events  in  the  order  of  their  occurrence.  This  is 
the  work  that  is  to  be  done  for  us  by  others.  But  facts  and 
events  are  effects ;  and  every  effect  has  and  must  have  an 
efficient  cause  behind  it.  It  is  the  part  of  the  philosopher 
to  trace  the  events  of  history  to  their  causes,  and  to  show 
how  and  why  things  have  happened  as  they  have.  As  all 
philosophy    is  but    a  search    for  causes,   and    as  all    causes 


12  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

ultimately  proceed  from,  or  are  merged  into  the  one  great 
first  cause,  which  is  God  himself,  so  the  philosopher  in  the 
highest  exercise  of  his  function  becomes  the  theologian,  as 
he  traces  whatever  is,  and  has  been,  to  the  overruling  prov- 
idence of  God.  Without  arrogating  for  ourselves,  to-day, 
any  too  ambitious  titles,  let  us  nevertheless  assume  so  far  as 
possible  the  philosophical  and  the  religious  attitude  of  mind  ; 
and  in  our  inquiries  of  the  former  age  let  us  seek  for  the 
causes  which  produced  the  peculiar  and  wonderful  forms  of 
life,  both  secular  and  spiritual,  which  we  find  originally  in 
New  England,  in  such  communities  as  this  one,  and  which, 
from  these  centres,  have  shaped  the  whole  political  and 
religious  development  of  our  land.  We  shall  thus  inevitably 
find  ourselves  assuming  the  attitude  of  mind  most  appro- 
piate  to  such  an  occasion  as  this  two  hundredth  anniversary, 
the  attitude  of  thanksgiving  and  praise  to  God  for  the  won- 
derful way  in  which  he  led  our  fathers,  and  for  the  wonderful 
blessings  and  opportunities  which  he  has  bestowed  upon  us. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  we  may  thank  God,  to-day,  that, 
the  great  constructive  idea  in  the  minds  of  our  forefathers, 
as  they  came  to  the  New  England  wilderness  to  establish  for 
themselves  homes  and  a  government,  was  a  religions  idea. 

Driven  out  of  England  in  consequence  of  the  zeal  which 
they  showed  for  a  greater  "scripture  purity"  in  worship  and 
doctrine  than  could  be  found  in  the  Established  Church ; 
finding  only  a  short  rest  at  Amsterdam,  and  in  Leyden,  Hol- 
land, where  they  were  '*  grieved  with  the  corrupt  examples 
around  them,  and  fearing  lest  their  children  should  be  con- 
taminated therewith,"  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  set  sail  on  August 
5th,  1620,  from  Deft  Haven,  near  Leyden,  and  in  November 
of  the  same  year  landed  on  our  bleak  and  wintry  Massachu- 
setts coast.  They  had  left  their  homes,  and  endured  the 
hardships  of  an  uncertain  and  perilous  sea-voyage  to  an  un- 
explored and  unknown  land,  for  a  purpose;  and  that 
purpose  was  that  they  might  worship  God  according  to  the 


Two  Himdredth  Anniversary.  13 

dictates  of  their  own  consciences  and  serve  Him  according  to 
what  seemed  to  them  the  scriptural  and  reasonable  method, 
wholly  unhindered  by  any  ecclesiastical  authority  and  unfet- 
tered by  any  popish  forms. 

The  very  foundations  of  our  New  England  and  national 
civilization  were  thus,  in  the  providence  of  God,  laid  in  reli- 
gion. Coming  here  with  this  definite  purpose  of  enjoying 
religious  freedom,  and  of  securing  it,  and  its  attendant  bless- 
ings, to  their  posterity,  the  meeting  house  was  the  first 
thought  and  care  of  our  fathers. 

"In  the  settlements  which  grew  up  on  the  margin  of  the 
greenwood"  says  the  historian  Bancroft,  "the  plain  meeting 
house  of  the  congregation  for  public  worship  was  every- 
where the  central  point.  Near  it  stood  the  public  school  by 
the  side  of  the  very  broad  road,  over  which  wheels  did  not 
pass  to  do  more  than  mark  the  path  by  ribbons  in  the  sward. 
The  snug  farm  houses,  owned  as  freeholders,  without  quit- 
rents,  were  dotted  along  the  way,  and  the  village  pastor 
among  his  people,  enjoying  the  calm  raptures  of  devotion, 
'appeared  like  such  a  little  white  flower  as  we  see  in  the 
spring  of  the  year,  low  and  humble  on  the  ground,  standing 
peacefully  and  lovingly  in  the  midst  of  the  flowers  round 
about;  all  in  like  manner  opening  their  bosoms  to  drink  in 
the  light  of  the  sun'.  In  every  hand  was  the  Bible ;  every 
home  was  a  house  of  prayer ;  in  every  village  all  had  been 
taught,  many  had  comprehended  a  methodical  theory  of  the 
divine  purpose  in  creation,  and  of  the  destiny  of  man." 

It  is  not  difficult  to  trace  the  influence  of  this  religious 
idea  upon  all  departments  of  life  in  the  growing  communities 
in  which  our  forefathers  lived.  Thus  we  can  see  that  here 
was  the  starting  point  of  that  educational  system,  which  has 
had  so  much  to  do  with  the  making  of  the  New  England 
character,  and  which  has  given  to  New  Englanders  a  world- 
wide reputation  for  intelligence,  shrewdness,  and  common 
sense.     The    basis  of  the    religion  of   our    fathers  was    the 


14  Co7igregational  Church   and  Parish,  Essex. 

Bible.  But  to  understand  the  Bible  a  certain  amount  of 
education  was  essential.  Hence  they  forthwith  established 
the  necessary  schools,  that  their  children  and  the  whole  com- 
munity might  appreciate  the  arguments  by  which  their  reli- 
gion was  defended,  and  that  an  educated  ministry  might  be 
furnished  to  lead  them  in  divine  things.  "The  Pilgrim 
Fathers  well  understood"  says  another,  ''that  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity demands  intellectual  culture.  The  preaching  of  the 
gospel  can  only  produce  its  best  results  when  addressed  to  a 
people  enjoying  the  advantages  of  some  good  measure  of 
education."  This  they  not  only  determined  to  furnish,  but 
to  make  obligatory  upon  all.  Here  is  the  germ  of  our  com- 
mon school  system.  And  it  had  its  origin  in  the  religious 
idea. 

Again  the  whole  political  system,  which  secures  freedom 
and  equality  to  all  our  citizens,  and  which  has  proved  such  a 
stimulus  to  ambition,  and  such  a  conservator  of  justice  and 
of  peace,  strikes  its  roots  into  identically  the  same  ground. 
It  was  their  profound  conviction  of  the  universal  brotherhood 
and  the  absolute  equality  of  the  human  race  in  the  sight  of 
God,  that  led  our  forefathers  to  remove  from  a  land  of  tyranny 
to  a  land  where  they  might  enjoy  the  blessings  of  that  free- 
dom in  which  they  believed.  Their  political  institutions  were 
the  direct  result  of  their  religious  ideas.  The  church  and 
the  state  were  identical.  The  meetings  of  the  parish  were 
the  meetings  of  the  town.  To  be  entitled  to  a  vote  in  politi- 
cal matters  each  person  was  required  to  become  a  member  of 
some  Congregational  church.  The  historian,  Bancroft,  already 
quoted,  says  again:  '' All  New  England  \N2,'i  an  aggregate  of 
organized  democracies.  But  the  complete  development  of 
the  institution  was  to  be  found  in  Connecticut  and  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay.  There  each  township  was  also  substantially  a 
territorial  parish ;  the  town  was  the  religious  congregation  ; 
the  independent  church  was  established  by  law;  the  minister 
was  elected  by  the  people  who  annually  made  grants  for  his 


Tivo  HimdrcdtJi  Anniversary.  15 

support.  *  *  He  who  will  understand  the  political  charac- 
ter of  New  England  in  the  eighteenth  century  must  study 
the  constitution  of  its  towns,  its  congregations,  its  schools 
and  its  Militia." 

Once  more  this  strong  and  clearly-defined  religious  idea  of 
our  ancestors  made  itself  powerfully  felt  as  a  constructive 
force,  in  the  building  up,  in  the  several  communities,  of  a 
remarkably  pure  moral  and  social  life.  The  influence  of  the 
church  and  the  minister  was  everywhere  strongly  felt.  Public 
sentiment  was  thus  educated  to  condemn,  almost  harshly 
sometimes,  whatever  was  impure  and  unholy  in  thought,  word 
or  deed.  The  transgressor  was  made  to  feel  himself  odious 
to  the  whole  community,  a  blot  upon  its  fair  name  and  a  dis- 
grace to  himself  and  all  his  friends.  This  popular  disapproval 
thus  became  one  of  the  very  strongest  possible  deterrents  from 
crime.  It  was  popular  to  be  religious.  Sabbath-keeping  was 
almost  universal.  Sabbath-breaking  was  scarcely  known.  In 
social  customs  whatever  seemed  to  make  for  piety  and  serious- 
ness was  viewed  with  approval,  and  whatever  interfered  with 
a  religious  and  devotional  habit  was  sternly  disapproved. 
Thus  public  opinion  drew  the  line  sharply  between  good  and 
evil,  and  no  one  was  left  in  doubt  as  to  which  he  would  be 
expected  to  choose. 

So  in  all  the  departments  of  life,  the  religious  idea  of  our 
forefathers  made  itself  felt  as  a  shaping  and  developing 
power,  and  to  it  we  own  all  that  is  noblest  and  best  in  both 
the  secular  and  religious  institutions  which  have  made  our 
own  New  England,  and  indeed  our  whole  country,  what  they 
are  to  day.  We  may  well  thank  God  that  it  was  so  grand  a 
purpose  and  so  noble  a  sentiment  that  drove  our  ancestors, 
so  long  ago,  to  this  inhospitable  coast,  to  found  a  State  where 
education,  liberty,  and  a  pure  religion  might  forever  be  the 
inalienable  right  of  every  citizen  of  the  land. 

I  have  dwelt  thus  far,  dear  friends,  upon  these  general  aspects 
of  life  in  the  time  of  our  fathers,  and  upon  the  forces  at  work 


1 6  Congregational  CJiurcJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

in  the  formation  of  society  in  their  day,  because  it  is  only  by 
knowing  and  recalhng  these  things  that  we  shall  be  prepared 
rightly  to  appreciate  the  part  which  this  particular  church 
has  had  in  the  conservation  and  application  of  these  forces 
in  this  community  in  which  we  live. 

I  would  mention  then,  in  the  second  place,  as  a  cause  of 
devout  thanksgiving  and  praise  to  God  to-day,  the  fact  that  in 
His  providence,  this  church  has  been  permitted  for  two  long 
centuries  to  exert  so  beneficent  an  influence,  and  to  do  so 
great  a  work  in  this  town.  What  the  religious  idea  of  our 
forefathers  did  for  New  England  as  a  whole,  that,  preemi- 
nently, this  church,  as  the  exponent  of  religion,  has  done  in 
this  community,  in  building  up  the  intellectual,  moral  and 
political  life  of  the  place.  I  think  we  may  say  with  perfect 
truthfulness  and  without  boasting,  that  for  two  centuries  this 
church  has  been  the  chief  earthly  means  for  securing  the 
best  blessings  of  God  to  the  people  of  this  town.  As  its 
meeting  house  stands  conspicuous  upon  this  hill,  above  the 
other  buildings,  so  its  influence  has  been  preeminent  among 
the  good  influences  that  have  been  working  here.  It  has 
truly  been  as  "a  city  that  is  set  on  an  hill,"  and  its  light  has 
not  been  hid. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  find  illustrations  of  the  beneficent  and 
wholesome  effect  of  this  church  and  of  its  ministers  upon 
the  various  departments  of  thought  and  life.  Thus  let  us 
see  what  has  been  its  influence  in  matters  of  education  in 
this  place. 

"Our  forefathers"  says  the  historian  of  Essex*,  "were  in- 
telligent and  well  educated  men.  They  knew  therefore  how 
to  appreciate  the  importance  of  a  good  education  for  their 
children.  But  while  in  a  wilderness,  few  and  far  between, 
and  with  scanty  means  of  living,  they  could  not  build  school 
houses  and  hire  teachers  and  if  they  could  have  done  it,  the 
dangers  from  wild  beasts  would   have  rendered   it  hazardous 

*History  of  Essex,  p.  103  sq. 


Tzvo  Hiuidredth  Anniversary.  17 

for  their  children  to  go  and  come  from  school.     As  late  as 
1723  wolves  were  so  abundant  and  so  near  the  meeting  house 
that  parents  would  not  suffer  their  children  to  go  and  come 
from  worship  without  some  grown  person.     The  education 
of  their  children  however  was  not  neglected.       They  were 
taught  at  home  to  read  write  and  cipher,  and  were  instructed 
in  the  great  principles  of  religion,  and  in  the  principal  laws 
of  their  country.     And  when  in  1642  it  was  found  that  some 
parents  were  not  faithful  in  these  and  other  duties  to  their 
children,  the  Selectmen  of  the  town  were  directed  'To  see 
that  children  neglected  by  their  parents  are  learned  (so  reads 
the  record)  to  read  and  understand  the  principles  of  religion, 
and    the  capital  laws  of   this  country,   and    are  engaged  in 
some  proper  employment.'     The  same  year  the  town  voted 
that  there  should  be  a  free  school."     These  were  the  begin- 
nings of    education   in    this  place.      In    165 1,  thirteen    years 
after  the  establishment  of  Harvard  College,  a  Latin  School 
was  opened  here  to  prepare  young  men  for  college,  and  in 
the  next  half  century  thirty  eight  went  out  from  Ipswich  and 
studied  at  Harvard.     Eleven  of  these  became  ministers,  three 
physicians,  and  the  rest  served  in  civil  and  judicial  capacities. 
Shortly  after  the  founding  of    this  church    the  people  in 
this  part  of  the  town  began  to  desire  a  free  school  for  them- 
selves.      Heretofore  they  had  been  obliged  to  go  for   their 
schooling,  as  for  their  religious  worship,  to  the  further  part 
of   the  town.     A  general  meeting  was  therefore  held  in  the 
meeting  house,  of    all  the  voters  in  the  parish,  who,  it  must 
be  remembered  were  all   church  members.      The  minister  of 
the  parish.  Rev.  Mr.  Wise,  is  surposed  to  have  been  present 
and  to  have  made  an  earnest  address,  exhorting  his  parish- 
ioners to  "save  their  children  from  ignorance,  infidelity  and 
vice."     The  result  of  this  meeting,  which  was  thus  due  largely 
to  the   influence  of   the   church,  was  the  appointment  of  a 
committee    to   secure  a  teacher   and  a  suitable   room   for  a 
school.     Nathaniel  Rust,  Jr.  was  chosen  and  he  opened  the 


1 8  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

school  in  his  own  house  in  June,  1695,  and  continued  teaching 
for  several  years.  The  first  school  house  was  built  in  1702. 
The  school-masters  were  at  this  time,  and  for  many  years, 
chosen  by  the  parish  ;  and  the  parish  was  then  nearly  identical 
with  the  church. 

From  1687  to  171  5  the  Ipswich  grammar  school  was  under 
the  charge  of  Mr.  Daniel  Rogers,  son  of  President  Rogers, 
of  Harvard  College.  During  this  period  eight  Chebacco 
boys  were  fitted  for  College  in  this  school,  their  names  were 
William  Burnham,  Benjamin  Choate,  Francis  Cogswell,  John 
Eveleth,  Francis  Goodhue,  John  Perkins,  Henry  and  Jeremiah 
Wise.  These  names  at  once  suggest  to  us  that  it  was  the  an- 
cestors of  some  of  the  principal  families  now  living  amongst 
us,  who  thus  valued  education  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  se- 
cure its  blessing  for  themselves  and  their  children  after  them. 
History  has  preserved  for  us  a  specimen*  of  the  work  of  one 
of  these  Chebacco  boys  which  will  give  us  an  idea  of  how 
the  good  people  of  that  day  estimated  and  used  their  advan- 
tages. In  1729  Rev.  Jeremiah  Wise,  son  of  our  first  pastor, 
preached  the  election  sermon  in  Boston,  "before  his  Excel- 
lency, William  Burnet,  Esq.  the  honorable  and  Lieutenant- 
governor,  the  Council  and  representatives  of  the  Provinces 
of  the  Massachusetts  Bay."  Among  other  things,  the 
preacher  said  these  words  : 

"The  education  of  youth  is  a  great  benefit  and  service  to 
the  public.  This  is  that  which  civilizes  them,  takes  down 
their  temper,  tames  the  fierceness  of  their  natures,  forms 
their  minds  to  virtue,  learns  them  to  carry  it  with  a  just  def- 
erence to  superiors,  makes  them  tractable  or  manageable, 
and  by  learning  and  knowing  what  it  is  to  be  under  govern- 
ment, they  will  know  better  how  to  govern  others,  when  it 
comes  to  their  turn.  And  thus  it  tends  to  good  order  in  the 
State.  Yea,  good  education  tends  to  promote  religion  and 
reformation,  as  well  as  peace  and  order ;  as  it  gives  check  to 

*History  of  Essex,  p.  147. 


Tivo  HiindrcdtJi  Anniversary.  19 

idleness  and  ignorance,  and  the  evil  consequences  thereof. 
Further  by  this  means  men  are  fitted  for  service,  for  public 
stations  in  Church  and  State,  and  to  be  public  blessings.  The 
public  would  greatly  suffer  by  the  neglect  thereof,  and  relig- 
ion could  not  subsist  long  but  would  decay  and  even  die  with- 
out it.  The  public  weal  depends  upon  it,  and  therefore  it 
ought  to  be  the  public  care,  and  so  it  has  been  in  the  best 
formed  Commonwealths,  who  have  erected  and  endowed 
public  schools  and  colleges  for  the  education  of  youth.  This 
was  our  fathers  early  care,  even  in  the  infancy  of  the  country, 
and  their  pious  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of 
their  posterity  has  been  remarkably  blessed.  Learning  has 
flourished  greatly  under  the  care  of  the  government,  new 
colleges  have  been  erected,  and  God  has  raised  up  generous 
friends  to  become  benefactors  to  them." 

The  training  that  fitted  our  old  pastor's  son  to  make  this 
earnest  plan  for  enlarged  views  on  the  part  of  the  "Civil 
Rulers"  in  regard  to  education,  must  have  been  given  him  in 
his  Chebacco  home  and  in  the  Chebacco  church,  and  in  the 
Ipswich  School. 

As  the  years  go  on,  increasing  attention  is  paid  to  educa- 
tion. In  the  early  part  of  the  present  century  the  number 
of  pupils  in  the  three  schools  has  increased  to  nearly  three 
hundred,  and  each  year  the  appropriations  of  money  for 
school  purposes  show  an  increase  over  those  of  former  years. 
As  we  turn  the  pages  of  the  History  of  Essex,  we  meet  with  an 
ever  enlarging  number  of  names  of  those  who  went  out  from 
this  parish  to  receive  a  liberal  education,  and  to  enter  upon 
the  professions  and  other  higher  walks  of  life.  Exactly  how 
much  of  this  was  due  to  the  influence  of  the  church,  and  to 
the  wise  counsel  and  instructions  of  its  pastors,  none  can  tell ; 
but  we  may  have  the  living  testimony  of  a  score  or  more  lib- 
erally educated  sons  of  Essex,  who  are  to-day  occupying 
important  and  influential  positions  in  professional  and  business 
life,  that  the  first    quickening  of  the  intellectual  life  within 


20  Congregational  ChnrcJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

them,  and  the  first  impulses  that  impelled  them  toward  a 
higher  career  were  traceable  directly  to  the  teachings  and 
personal  influences  of  Crowell  or  Bacon  or  Choate.  If  this 
is  true  in  the  present  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  it  was  equally 
true  in  the  past.  We  may  thank  God  to-day,  for  the  large 
number  of  educated  men  that  this  church  has  given  to  the 
gospel  ministry,  and  to  the  other  useful  and  honorable  pro- 
fessions in  her  day. 

I  cannot  close  this  brief  review  of  educational  matters 
without  alluding  somewhat  more  particularly  to  the  distin- 
guished sevices  and  unique  work  in  this  department,  of  one 
who  has  probably  had  more  to  do  with  shaping  the  more 
recent  intellectual  life  of  the  place  than  any  other  person, 
and  whose  influence  can  still  be  distinctly  felt.  I  refer  to  the 
late  Hon.  David  Choate.  I  am  sure  that  our  thanksgiving 
to-day  must  include  a  great  deal  of  gratitude  to  God,  for 
giving  to  the  church,  and  to  the  town,  a  man  who  was  fitted 
and  disposed  to  do  the  work  that  this  man  did. 

"For  twenty  seven  years"  says  his  biographer*,  "he  engaged 
in  his  profession  (  of  teaching  )  with  a  perseverance  and  en- 
thusiasm that  was  marvellous.  In  the  midst  of  that  period 
he  secured  the  erection  of  a  new  school  building,  and  such 
a  division  and  classification  of  pupils  as  enabled  him  to  give 
to  his  own  department  at  length  the  character  and  the  curric- 
ulum of  a  high  school.  And  that  was  at  a  time,  be  it  re- 
membered, when  there  were  not  more  than  a  dozen  high 
schools  in  the  State.  Here  his  power  as  an  educator  had 
freer  scope,  and  was  so  marked  and  peculiar  that  no  adequate 
idea  of  it  can  be  given  in  few  words.  Through  his  energies, 
and  personal  influence  with  friends  of  learning,  the  school 
was  provided  with  a  library,  a.  fine  case  of  instruments  for 
use  in  the  study  of  natural  philosophy,  astronomy,  and  sur- 
veying, with  outline  maps,  a  piano  and  other  appliances  now 
common  enough,  but   then    rare   indeed,   if  anywhere  to  be 

*Rev.  Prof.  E.  P.  Crowell 


Tivo  HtDidrcdth  Anniversary.  21 

found  in  the  larger  high  schools.  While  courses  of  lectures 
on  various  branches  of  study  were  provided,  the  instruction 
itself  was  of  a  very  high  order.  Hard  study  was  indeed  ex- 
acted of  every  scholar  and  each  recitation  was  a  searching 
test  of  the  work  done  at  one's  desk  or  at  home  and  of  the 
pupils  comprehension  of  the  subject.  Speaking  of  the  school 
of  another  teacher,  he  once  remarked :  'One  great  charm 
about  the  school  was  that  the  pupils  were  first  brought  up  to 
as  high  a  standard  in  close,  hard  study,  in  school  and  out,  as 
they  could  be,  and  then  made  happy  and  cheerful  in  it'.  But 
the  excellence  of  Mr.  Choate's  school  was  not  limited  to  this. 
No  mechanical  routine  ever  existed  there,  nor  were  the  exer- 
cises of  the  daily  sessions  ever  suffered  to  run  in  ruts.  His 
pupils  did  'not  merely  recite  what  they  had  learned  from  the 
text-book,  but  they  were  taught  continually  from  the  living 
lips.  Whatever  the  lesson  in  hand  it  was  his  part  to  invest  it 
for  the  whole  class  with  a  new  interest,  to  let  light  in  upon 
what  was  obscure,  to  go  over  the  whole  subject  with  expla- 
nation and  comment  and  illustration,  until  it  was  fully  under- 
stood and  mastered  by  all.  One  of  the  distinguishing  charac- 
teristics of  his  seminary  might  be  said  to  be  this  direct  contact 
of  the  mind  of  the  teacher  with  that  of  the  pupil  as  an  inspir- 
ing quickening  influence, —  an  electric  force.  He  was  fertile  in 
expedients  to  excite  a  thirst  for  knowledge  in  the  indolent, 
and  an  enthusiasm  in  the  most  sluggish,  to  secure  steady 
application,  and  the  independent  and  vigorous  use  of  each 
one's  own  powers.  One  unique  contrivance  for  effecting  these 
most  important  ends  was  a  'general  exercise'  of  half  an  hour 
every  morning  for  the  whole  school,  which  usually  consisted 
in  a  familiar  lecture  on  some  one  of  a  great  variety  of  topics 
distinct  from,  or  supplementary  to,  the  regular  course  of  study, 
and  which,  abounding  in  facts  of  history  and  science  and  the 
arts,  in  aphorisms,  biographical  anecdotes,  pratical  sugges- 
tions as  to  habits  of  study,  combined  instruction  and  enter- 
tainment, and  was  admirably  adapted  to  stimulate  and  enrich 


22  Congregational  Chnrch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

the  minds  of  those  who  heard  it.  Often  the  members  of  the 
school  were  required  to  take  notes  of  what  was  thus  com- 
municated orally,  or  to  give  the  substance  of  it  in  writing  in 
their  own  language.  This  indeed  was  but  one  of  the  many 
kinds  of  practice  in  composition,  training  in  which  was 
another  prominent  feature  of  the  school,  Mr.  Choate  being  a 
firm  believer  in  the  saying  of  Bishop  Jewell,  which  he  would 
sometimes  quote,  that  'men  gain  more  in  knowledge  by  a 
frequent  use  of  their  pens  than  by  the  reading  of  many 
books'. 

The  fame  of  the  school  went  into  all  that  region  round 
about.  Scores  of  students  were  drawn  in  from  different 
towns,  in  the  vicinity  and  at  a  distance ;  there  was  an  average 
number  of  members  of  about  sixty ;  and  never  did  the  per- 
sonality of  a  teacher  more  deeply  impress  itself  upon  his 
pupils.  Horace  Mann's  remark  was  preeminently  true  of 
Mr.  Choate  as  an  instructor:  'The  teachers  influence  is  like 
that  grade  of  ink  which  when  first  put  upon  paper  is  scarcely 
visible,  but  soon  becomes  blacker,  and  now  so  black  that 
you  may  burn  the  paper  on  coals  of  fire,  and  the  writing  is 
seen  in  the  cinders'." 

I  have  made  this  somewhat  extended  quotation  because  it 
seemed  appropiate  to  let  another,  who  had  known  Mr.  Choate 
personally  and  thoroughly,  speak  for  him.  As  but  recently 
a  comparative  stranger  here,  I  can  add  my  testimony  to  the 
great  and  permanent  value  of  his  influence,  both  in  secular 
and  religious  education.  That  influence  is  still  almost  as 
really  and  distinctly  felt  by  those  who  are  working  in  the 
same  lines  of  endeavor,  as  though  he  were  still  alive. 

Turning  now  from  these  educational  matters  to  the  politi- 
cal life  of  this  community  in  the  past  two  centuries,  we  find 
the  impress  of  the  church  to  have  been  as  marked  and  decided 
as  we  would  expect  to  find  it  from  what  we  know  of  the 
character  of  its  men,  and  of  the  circumstances  in  which  they 
lived.      From  the  very  beginning  the  founders  and  supporters 


Two  Hundredth  Anniversary.  23 

of  the  church,  were  the  founders  and  supporters  of  the  town, 
and  its  ministers  were  actively  engaged  in  civil  and  military 
affairs.  I  will  confine  myself  to  two  or  three  incidents  from 
the  abundant  materials  that  are  ready  at  hand,  for  the  illustra- 
tion of  this  topic,  in  the  expectation  that  others  will  give  a 
more  detailed  account  of  facts. 

Four  years  after  the  founding  of  the  church.  Sir  Edmund 
Andros,  the  recently  appointed  Governor  of  all  the  New 
England  Colonies,  levied  a  tax  upon  the  people  of  this 
colony,  of  id.  on  ^i,  which  was  in  direct  violation  of  their 
charter  rights.  The  people  of  this  town,  under  the  lead  of 
their  minister,  met  together  and  ''determined  that  it  was  not 
the  duty  of  the  town  to  aid  in  assessing  and  collecting  this 
illegal  and  unconstitutional  tax."*  A  general  town  meeting 
was  addressed  by  Rev.  Mr.  Wise,  who  made  "a  bold  and  im- 
pressive speech  in  which  he  urged  his  townsmen  to  stand  to 
their  privileges,  forthey  .had  a  good  God,  and  a  good  King 
to  protect  them."  A  report  of  this  meeting  was  transmitted 
to  the  Council,  as  follows: 

"At  a  legal  town  meeting,  August  23,  assembled  by  virtue 
of  an  order  from  John  Usher,  Esq.  for  choosing  a  commission 
to  join,  with  the  Selectmen  to  address  the  inhabitants  accord- 
ing to  an  act  of  his  excellency  the  Governor,  and  Council, 
for  laying  of  rates.  The  town  then  considering  that  this  act 
doth  infringe  their  liberty,  as  free  English  subjects  of  His 
Majesty,  by  interfering  with  the  Statute  Laws  of  the  land, 
by  which  it  was  enacted  that  no  taxes  should  be  levied  upon 
the  subjects  without  the  consent  of  an  Assembly,  chosen  by 
the  freeholders  for  assessing  the  same,  they  do  therefore  vote 
that  they  are  not  willing  to  choose  a  commissioner  for  such 
an  end,  without  said  privileges,  and,  moreover  consent  not 
that  the  Selectmen  do  proceed  to  lay  any  such  rate,  until  it 
be  appointed  by  a  General  Assembly,  concurring  with  Gov- 
ernor and  Council." 

*  History  of  Essex,  p.  9S. 


24  Congregational  Chnrch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

As  the  result  of  this,  Mr.  Wise  and  five  others,  John 
Andrews,  WilHam  Goodhue,  Robert  Kinsman,  John  Appleton 
and  Thomas  French,  were  arrested,  carried  to  Boston  and 
tried  for  "contempt  and  high  misdemeanor."  Mr.  Wise  was 
"suspended  from  the  ministerial  function,  fined  £^o  and 
costs,  and  obliged  to  give  a  i^iooo  bond  for  good  behavior 
for  one  year.  The  others  were  also  heavily  fined  and  dis- 
qualified for  holding  office.  "The  evidence  in  the  case,  as  to 
the  substance  of  it,"  says  Mr.  Wise,  "was,  that  we  too  boldly 
endeavored  to  persuade  ourselves  we  were  Englishmen  and 
under  privileges,  and  that  we  were,  all  six  of  us  aforesaid,  at 
the  town  meeting  of  Ipswich  aforesaid,  and,  as  the  witness 
supposed,  we  assented  to  the  aforesaid  vote,  and,  also,  that 
John  Wise  made  a  speech  at  the  same  time,  and  said  that  we 
had  a  good  God  and  a  good  King,  and  should  do  well  to 
stand  to  our  privileges."  The  town  afterwards  made  up  the 
loss  to  these  defendants ;  and  Mr.  Wise  brought  an  action 
against  Chief  Justice  Dudley,  who  had  denied  him  the  privi- 
lege of  habeas  corpus,  and  recovered  damages. 

It  has  been  written  \\\dX''T}ie  first  man  in  America  ever 
knoivn  to  oppose  the  idea  of  taxation  without  representatio7i, 
sleeps  in  the  grave  of  the  Rev.  John  Wise  of  Chebacco. 

An  interesting  anecdote  is  related  of  Mr.  Wise  in  his  later 
days  as  follows:*  On  coming  to  church  one  Sunday  morn 
ing  the  sad  news  is  spread  from  neighbor  to  neighbor,  that 
on  the  evening  before  a  fishing  boat  arrived  which  had  had  a 
narrow  escape  from  pirates  in  the  Bay,  and  that  the  crew  had 
seen  these  pirates  capture  a  Chebacco  boat  and  put  several 
men  aboard  of  her  to  convey  her  with  the  captured  men, 
away  to  a  distant  port.  This,  of  course,  is  an  especial  cause 
of  anxiety  to  those  who  have  friends  at  sea.  In  his  prayer 
Mr.  Wise  "remembers  all  that  are  in  danger,  in  perils  by  land 
in  perils  by  sea,  and  prays  especially  for  the  deliverance  of 
those  neighbors  and  friends  that  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of 

*  History  of  Essex,  p.  133. 


Tzvo  Hundredth  Anniversary.  25 

pirates.  'Great  God,'  he  fervently  cries,  *if  there  is  no  other 
way,  may  they  rise  and  butcher  their  enemies,' —  an  expres- 
sion long  remembered,  because  the  event  showed  that  on 
that  morning  they  rose  upon  the  pirates  and  slew  them,  and 
thereby  safely  reached  home." 

The  estimation  in  which  Mr.  Wise's  public  services  were 
held  while  living,  may  be  gathered  from  these  words  which 
were  written  at  his  death.  "He  was  of  a  generous  and  public 
spirit;  a  great  lover  of  his  country,  and  our  happy  constitu- 
tion ;  a  studious  assertor  and  faithful  defender  of  its  liberties 
and  interests.  He  gave  singular  proof  of  this  at  a  time  when 
our  Liberties  and  all  things  were  in  danger.  And  with  un- 
daunted courage  he  withstood  the  bold  invasions  that  were 
made  upon  us.  He  was  next  called  (in  his  own  order)  to 
accompany  our  forces  in  an  unhappy  expedition,  where  not 
only  the  pious  discharge  of  his  sacred  office,  but  his  heroic 
spirit ;  and  martial  skill,  and  wisdom  did  greatly  distinguish 
him.  *  *  *  Upon  the  whole,  justice  and  gratitude  both 
oblige  us  to  give  him  the  Title  of  a  Patron  of  his  Country 
and  a  Father  in  Israel,  and  to  join  with  an  eminent  minister 
in  his  publick  mention  of  him  that  he  was  our  Elijah,  the 
Chariot  of  Israel,  and  the  Horsemen  thereof,  our  Glory  and 
Defense." 

The  gradual  encroachments  of  the  English  upon  their  lib- 
erties, which  finally  culminated  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution, 
were  watched  by  our  fathers  with  increasing  excitement  and 
indignation.  When  the  news  was  received  here  that  the 
cargoes  of  tea,  which  had  arrived  at  Boston,  had  been  thrown 
overboard  in  the  harbor,  they  meet  in  town  meeting,  and  voted  : 

"I.  That  the  inhabitants  of  this  town  have  received  real 
pleasure  and  satisfaction  from  the  noble  and  spirited  exertions 
of  their  brethren  of  Boston,  and  other  towns,  to  prevent  the 
landing  of  the  detested  tea,  lately  arrived  there  from  the 
East  India  Company,  subject  to  duty  which  goes  to  support 
persons  not  friendly  to  the  interests  of  this  Province." 


26  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

''2.  That  they  highly  disapprove  of  the  consignees  of  the 
East  India  Company,  because  of  their  equivocal  answers  to 
a  respectable  committee  of  Boston,  and  their  refusal  to  com- 
ply with  the  wish  of  their  countrymen." 

"  3.  That  every  person  who  shall  import  tea,  while  the  act 
for  duty  on  it  continues,  shall  be  held  as  an  enemy." 

''4.  That  no  tea  shall  be  sold  in  town  while  this  act  is  in 
force ;  that  if  any  one  sell  it  here  he  shall  be  deemed  an 
enemy." 

"Voted  that  these  resolves  be  sent  to  the  committee  of 
correspondence,  of  Boston." 

The  women  of  that  day  were  as  patriotic  as  the  men  and 
heartily  cooperated  in  these  efforts  to  resist  the  persistent  in- 
vasion of  their  rights.  In  these  exciting  and  critical  times  a 
most  active  part  was  taken  by  the  fourth  pastor  of  this  church, 
the  Rev.  John  Cleaveland. 

An  anecdote  in  the  early  experience  of  this  man  will  give 
us  an  idea  of  his  character,  and  also  of  the  difference  in  some 
respects  between  the  spirit  of  those  times  and  of  our  own. 

Shortly  after  entering  Yale  College  at  the  age  of  19,  he 
went  in  vacation,  in  company  with  his  parents  and  friends  and 
a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  church  to,  which  he  be- 
longed, to  a  meeting  of  the  Separatists,  and  listened  to  the 
preaching  of  a  lay-exhorter,  or  "new-light  preacher,"  as  the 
followers  of  Whitefield  were  called.  Mr.  Whitefields  methods 
were  deemed  "subversive  of  the  established  order  of  the 
churches,"  and  on  this  account  "were  obnoxious  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  Yale." 

Upon  his  return  after  the  vacation  he  was  called  before  the 
faculty  for  the  offence  of  having  listened  to  this  preaching, 
and  upon  his  refusal  to  confess  that  he  had  done  wrong,  was 
expelled  from  college. 

Years  afterward  his  degree  was  conferred  upon  him  by  the 
college  authorities,  unsolicited,  and  his  name  was  enrolled 
with  the  graduates  of  his  class  of  1745. 


Two  Htindrcdtli  Anniversary.  27 

Mr.  Cleaveland's  voice  was  heard  everywhere,  in  pubhc  and 
private,  at  the  approach  of  the  revohitionary  struggle,  urging 
his  flock  to  stand  firm,  and  to  make  any  sacrifice  for  the  cause 
of  hberty.  When  the  war  fairly  broke  out  he  enhsted  as 
Chaplain  of  Col.  Little's  regiment;  ''the  17th  Foot,  Continen- 
tal Army."  Says  the  historian  of  Essex:*  "He  practiced 
as  he  preached.  It  was  remarked  to  the  author  by  aged 
people  forty  years  ago  that  Mr.  Cleaveland  preached  all  the 
men  of  his  parish  into  the  army  and  then  went  himself. 
Three  of  his  four  sons  were  in  the  service  for  a  longer  or 
shorter  time.  One  of  them,  Nehemiah,  enlisted  in  his  six- 
teenth year,  and  served  in  the  army  investing  Boston,  and,  at 
a  later  period,  in  New  Jersey  and  at  West  Point.  'Not  only 
by  his  professional  services  as  Chaplain,  but  by  various  con- 
tributions to  newspapers,  he  did  much  to  encourage  and 
further  the  great  enterprise  which  had  its  issue  in  our  national 
independence.'" 

The  same  author  relates  this  amusing  anecdote  of  Mr. 
Cleaveland.  "For  the  defence  and  protection  of  the  coast 
of  Cape  Ann,  a  force  of  militia  from  the  more  inland  towns 
was  drafted,  to  be  stationed  there.  On  their  march  thither 
they  passed  through  Chebacco,  halted,  and  were  paraded  on 
the  common,  where  they  received  their  Chebacco  fellow  sold- 
iers. On  this  occasion  a  prayer  was  offered  by  the  ardent 
and  patriotic  Cleaveland.  While  he  was  praying  in  his  sten- 
torian voice  "that  the  enemy  might  be  blown"  —  "to  hell  and 
damnation,"  loudly  interrupted  an  excited  soldier,  —  "to  the 
land  of  tyranny  from  whence  they  came,"  continued  the 
undisturbed  chaplain,  without  altering  his  tone  or  apparently 
noticing  the  interruption. 

Bancroft  mentions  this  old  Chebacco  pastor,  as  one  of 
those  Chaplains  who  preached,  to  the  regiments  of  citizen- 
soldiers,  a  renewal  of  the  days  when  Moses,  with  the  rod  of 
God  in  his  hand,  sent  Joshua  against  Amalek."t 

♦History  of  Essex,  p.  208.     fHistorv  of  U.  S.  Vol.  IV  ;  chap.  13. 


28  Congregational  Church  and  Parish ^  Essex. 

In  the  war  of  the  rebellion  the  ready  responses  of  this  town 
to  the  President's  successive  calls  for  troops,  the  patriotic  sen- 
timents heard  here  from  all  classes  of  citizens,  and  the  bravery 
and  endurance  of  the  soldiers  who  went  out  to  battle  for  the 
peace  and  good  name  of  their  country,  show  that,  in  later 
years,  the  old  time  ardor  and  public  spirit  had  not  died  out. 

It  is  the  testimony  of  one  who  had  much  to  do  with  the 
Essex  men  in  the  army*  "that  none  were  more  prompt  at 
the  call  of  duty,  none  more  obedient  to  commands,  none  made 
less  complaint  during  the  fatiguing  march"  than  they. 

But  not  only  in  times  of  war  did  the  character  and  training 
of  our  citizens  show  itself.  In  times  of  peace,  in  seasons  of 
quiet,  every  day  experience,  in  the  period  of  slow  and  almost 
imperceptible  development,  the  influence  of  their  traditions, 
the  example  of  their  ancestors,  and  the  earnest  utterances  of 
this  pulpit  have  been  active  forces  that  have  given  a  decided 
character  and  value  to  the  institutions  and  doings  of  the  peo- 
ple of  this  town.  These  are  things  for  which  we  cannot  thank 
God  too  heartily,  and  of  which  we  can  hardly  be  too  proud. 

I  have  spoken,  dear  friends,  of  the  influence  of  this  church, 
as  the  exponent  of  the  religious  idea  of  our  fathers,  upon  the 
intellectual  and  political  life  of  this  community.  It  remains 
for  me  to  touch  very  briefly  upon  the  part  it  has  played  in 
forming  the  social  and  moral  life  of  the  place.  In  their  ear- 
liest days  the  various  settlements  and  towns  of  New  England 
were  a  good  deal  like  large  families.  The  people  were  thrown 
together  and  united  by  the  circumstances  in  which  they  lived. 
Therefore  it  has  been  remarked  that  their  social,  civil,  and 
ecclesiastical  regulations  resemble  those  which  are  adopted 
in  every  well-regulated  family.  It  was  the  patriarchal  .stage 
in  the  history  of  our  land.  Under  these  circumstances,  and 
with  such  men  for  their  ministers  as  we  have  found  the  minis- 
ters of  our  fathers  to  have  been,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
influence  of  the  church  and  its  pastors  was  very  strongly  felt 

*Capt.  Chas.  Howes. 


Two  Hinidrcdth  Anniversary.  29 

in  the  homes  and  in  the  hearts  of  all.  Mr.  Wise  was  ''  a  tall, 
stout  man,  majestic  in  appearance,  of  great  muscular  strength,'' 
and  with  a  voice  ''deep  and  strong."  He  was  well  calculated 
to  inspire  respect  in  the  minds  of  his  flock,  for  the  house  and 
the  word  and  the  laws  of  God.  All  the  children  were  scrupu- 
lously instructed  in  the  catechism.  They  were  baptized  in 
infancy  and  early  taken  to  meeting  on  the  Lord's  day.  Prep- 
arations for  the  Sabbath  began  on  Saturday,  and  everything 
was  done  to  secure  the  peace  and  quiet  needed  for  devotion 
and  spiritual  rest.  The  Bible  was  read  and  respected  in  every 
home,  and  the  father  of  the  family  opened  and  closed  the 
labors  of  each  day  with  family  prayers.  As  we  read  of  those 
simple  and  unostentatious  homes  we  have  a  picture  of  pure 
and  true  domestic  happiness  such  as  is  hardly  afforded  by 
any  other  age  or  country  in  the  whole  history  of  the  world. 
And  there  went  out  from  these  quiet  abodes  of  contentment 
and  piety,  noble  men  and  women  to  do  noble  deeds  and  live 
noble  lives. 

The  existence  of  Slavery  in  this  town  is  mentioned  in  the 
year  171 7,  when  it  appears,  by  a  bill  of  sale  dated  July  30, 
that  "Joshua  Norwood  of  Gloucester,  sold  to  Jonathan  Burn- 
ham  of  Chebacco,  for  £6\  in  bills  of  credit,  a  negro  boy 
whom  he  had  bought  of  Thomas  Ghoate  of  Hogg  Island." 
The  modifying  influences  of  our  fathers'  religious  ideas, upon 
this  institution,  and  the  circumstances  that  justified  them  in 
holding  slaves  at  all,  are  thus  brought  out  by  Dr.  Crowell  in 
the  history  of  the  town.*  "They  did  not  send  vessels  to 
Africa  to  bring  slaves  to  this  country.  They  did  not  enter  at 
all  into  the  slave  trade,  nor  willingly  give  it  any  encourage- 
ment. On  the  contrary  they  remonstrated  most  loudly  against 
it.  All  the  slaves  here  were  originally  brought  from  Africa 
to  this  country  in  English  ships,  and  forced  upon  the  colonies. 
'England,'  says  Bancroft,  'stole  from  Africa,  from  1700  to 
1750  probably  a  million  and   a  half  of  souls,  of  whom  one- 

*Historv  of  Essex,  p.  124. 


30  Congregational  Church   and  Parish,  Essex. 

eighth  were  buried  in  the  Atlantic,  victims  of  the  passage, 
and  yet  in  England  no  general  indignation  rebuked  the  enor- 
mity.    Massachusetts  unremittingly  opposed  the  introduction 
of  slaves.     In  1705   the  General  Court  imposed  a  tax  upon 
those  who  brought  slaves  into  the  market,  of  so  much  for 
every  slave  sold.'     But  England  persisted  in  bringing  them, 
and  landing  them  upon  our  shores.     But  why  did  our  fathers 
buy  them?     The  only  apparent  reason  is  that  of  humanity  or 
necessity.     If  they  had  not  taken  them  into  their  families  by 
purchase,  they  might  have  been  left  to  perish  in  our  streets, 
or  subjected  to  all  the  horrors  of  another  passage  over  the 
Atlantic,  to  be  sold  to  some  other  country.      If  they  had  been 
unprovided  for  upon  our  shores,  they  must  have  perished  ; 
for    they  were  as  incapable  of   providing  for  themselves  as 
the    most    neglected  and   ignorant  child.       Their    condition, 
therefore,  was  at  once  improved,  as  soon  as  they  came  into 
the  possession  of  our  fathers.     They  dwelt  under  the  same 
roof;   their  wants  were  all  cared  for;   they  worked  shoulder 
to  shoulder  with  their  masters  in   the  field  ;   sat  by  the  same 
fire  with  the  children,  were  taken  to  church  with  them  on  the 
Sabbath,  and  instructed   in  the   great  truths  of  Christianity, 
and  when  our  fathers  were  made  free,  they  were  made  free 
with  them.     There  is  nothing  in  these  facts  to  diminish  aught 
of  England's  guilt  in  the  enormities  of  the  slave-trade ;    but 
they  certainly  furnish  some  apology  for  our  fathers  in  giving 
a  home  to  those  who  were  already  bondmen." 

This  town,  under  the  lead  of  its  ministers  and  religious 
men,  was  early  identified  with  the  temperance  movement. 

As  early  as  in  1825  it  was  voted  "that  the  selectmen  allow 
no  bills  for  liquor  on  the  highway."  On  the  i6th  of  July, 
1829,  the  first  public  address  upon  this  subject  in  this  town, 
was  delivered  in  the  meeting  house  of  this  church,  by  William 
C.  Goodell,  of  Boston.  The  speaker  announced  his  topic  as 
follows  :  "Ardent  spirits  ought  to  be  banished  from  the  land. 
What  ought  to  be  done  can  be  done."     The    result  of  the 


Tivo  Hnndredth  A 


nnivcrsary .  3 1 


lecture  was  the  formation,  then  and  there,  of  the  first  tem- 
perance society.  It  was  called  the  ''Essex  Temperance  Soci- 
ety on  the  principle  of  total  abstinence,"  and  the  constitution 
was  drawn  up  by  the  lecturer  and  the  pastor  of  this  church. 
Seven  persons  joined  the  society  and  signed  the  pledge  that 
evening.  Their  names  were  Winthrop  Low,  Samuel  Burnham, 
John  Choate,  John  Perkins,  Jonathan  Eveleth,  Francis  Burn- 
ham,  David  Choate.  Rev.  Mr.  Crowell's  name  was  added 
shortly  afterward. 

It  is  pleasant  to  add  that,  from  the  first,  whenever  the  ques- 
tion of  licensing  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquor  has  come  up 
in  the  annual  meetings  of  the  town,  it  has  received  a  decided 
negative,  up  to,  and  including,  the  present  year. 

I  have  said  nothing  at  all  directly  dear  friends,  about  the 
influence  of  this  church  in  distinctively  religious  and  ecclesi- 
astial  affairs.  Had  it  been  my  object  to  give  a  connected 
and  comprehensive  history  of  the  society,  that  would  have 
been  the  principal  topic.  And  it  would  have  been  a  very 
rich  one.  Not  that  in  this  or  in  any  of  the  things  that  I  Jiavc 
mentioned,  this  church  has  h^^w  perfect.  Not  that  she  has 
not  committed  errors  of  judgment  and  made  mistakes. 
There  are  things  in  the  past  that  we  may  wish  were  different. 
But  in  the  main,  by  the  grace  of  God,  she  has  made  a  noble 
record,  not  only  in  the  development  and  preservation  of  piety 
and  the  graces  of  the  Christian  life  here  at  home :  but  also 
in  her  contributions  to  Christian  literature  (  especially  in  the 
works  of  Wise  and  Cleaveland  )  ;  in  her  not  inconsiderable 
influence  in  founding  and  aiding  other  churches  in  this  county  ; 
in  her  collections  and  prayers  for  foreign  missions  ;  and  in 
the  noble  men  she  has  sent  out  in  such  considerable  numbers, 
to  become  earnest  and  able  preachers  of  Jesus  Christ. 

These  things  you  will  hear  about  from  others.  But  after 
all  that  I  have  said,  and  after  all  that  they  shall  say  has  been 
uttered,  to  the  praise  of  God,  and  to  the  credit  of  our  noble 
ancestry,  the  very  richest  and   best  of  these  past  two  centu- 


32  Congregational  Church  and  ParisJi,  Essex. 

ries  will  still  be  unuttered  and  unutterable.  These  things 
that  we  can  see  and  speak  of,  these  visible  and  tangible  results, 
are  glorious,  and  we  thank  God  for  them ;  but  who  can  esti- 
mate the  invisible  influences  and  the  untraceable  forces  that 
have  been  operating  in  all  these  years  through  the  instrumen- 
tality of  this  church  and  her  pastors  !  The  best  work  accom- 
plished by  any  church  and  in  any  pastorate  consists  in  the 
thought  that  is  stimulated,  the  spiritual  impressions  that  are 
imparted,  the  hopes  and  desires  that  are  enkindled  in  the  soul. 
These  lead  the  soul  heavenward.  And  who  shall  number,  to- 
day the  souls  that  have  been  cheered  and  guided  in  their 
earthly  journey,  by  these  influences,  and  that  have  been  won  to 
Christ  and  made  heirs  of  everlasting  life  through  the  instrumen- 
tality of  this  ancient  church  ?  We  may  seem  to  see  them  now, 
a  joyous  and  blessed  band,  in  the  great  company  of  those  who 
have  washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb.  Our  fathers  and  brethren,  our  neighbors  and 
kindred,  our  acquaintances  and  friends  are  there.  And  do 
they  not  see  us?  Yea  we  must  believe  that  this  sanctuary  is 
still  sacred  to  them,  and  that  these  memories  that  we  are  re- 
viving are  tJieir  memories.  They  are  with  us  to-day,  uniting 
in  our  thanksgiving  and  joining  in  our  praises  to  that  God 
and  that  Christ  who  have  made  this  sacred  church  to  be  to  so 
many,  as  the  very  gate  of  heaven.  God  grant  that  we  may 
triumph  as  they  have  triumphed,  over  all  the  hinderances  and 
temptations  and  doubts  that  assail  us,  and  enter  with  them  at 
last  through  this  gate,  and  into  the  blessedness  of  that  heav- 
enly land. 

Finally,  as  we  stand,  to-day,  upon  the  vantage-ground  of 
this  two  hundredth  anniversary,  we  can  look  forzvard  as  well 
as  backward.  Someone  has  said  that  to  know  any  leading 
characteristic  virtue  of  those  from  whom  we  have  descended 
is  not  only  to  be  influenced  by  it,  but  it  is  to  be  put  under  an 
obligation  to  imitate  it,  and  keep  it  alive.  Mediaeval  knights 
committed  to  memory   the    records  of  noble    acts    in    their 


Two  Htmdredth  Anniversary.  33 

families,  that  they  might  maintain  an  equally  high  standard 
by  their  own  chivalric  deeds.  So  we  are  put  upon  our  honor 
to  maintain  the  high  principles  and  to  imitate  the  noble 
achievements  of  those  who  have  gone  before  us.  This  anni- 
versary should  be  full  of  measureless  edification  and  inspira- 
tion for  us.  It  should  arouse  us  to  new  earnestness  and 
activity.  We  should  feel  as  never  before  the  vast  opportuni- 
ties and  solemn  responsibilities  that  are  ours.  As  we  thank 
God  for  the  past  we  should  pray  to  him  for  the  future.  New 
problems  confront  us.  The  world  has  marvellously  changed 
since  the  days  of  our  fathers.  The  ends  of  the  earth  are 
given  into  our  keeping.  Shall  we  keep  them /<?r  Jesus?  The 
most  diverse  race  elements,  with  the  utmost  variety  of  relig- 
ious and  political  and  social  prejudices,  are  pouring  into  our 
own  nation.  Shall  the  gospel  permeate  these  masses?  Shall 
it  be  the  light  of  the  world,  the  salt  to  save  the  people  from 
corruption  and  decay?  With  us  rests  the  issue.  Intemper- 
ance and  licensiousness,  those  old  enemies,  still  stalk  about 
the  land.  Shall  we  kill  them  with  the  sword  of  law  and  of 
love?  Mammon  is  as  greedy  as  ever.  Worldliness  still  draws 
its  millions  from  the  worship  and  service  of  God.  It  is  ours 
to  apply  the  gospel  with  its  quickening  and  purifying  and  sav- 
ing power  to  all  within  the  reach  of  our  influence ;  and  by 
the  wonderful  discoveries  of  modern  times,  God  has  brought 
the  zvliole  world  within  our  influence.  The  church  of  to-day 
needs  the  entire  energy  and  complete  consecration  of  all  its 
members.  As  we  remember  the  deeds  of  our  ancestors  let 
us  then,  not  be  rendered  proud  and  self  satisfied  by  them,  but 
let  us  be  spurred  on  to  new  faithfulness  to  the  trusts  that  de- 
volve upon  us.  Let  us  determine  to  show  the  same  spirit  in 
meeting  our  responsibilities  that  they  showed  in  meeting 
theirs.  If  we  have  different  difficulties  to  contend  with  and 
different  problems  to  solve,  let  us  rejoice  that  we  have  the 
same  gospel  to  work  with,  and  the  same  Saviour  for  our  helper 
and  friend.     Let  us  ever  be  true  to  that  Saviour.      Let  us  ever 


34  Co7igregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

be  loyal  to  this  church  and  its  covenant.  Let  us  ever  main- 
tain these  same  grand  old  evangelical  doctrines,  that  in  the 
past  have  brought  forth,  in  abundance,  such  goodly  fruitage. 
Let  us  contribute  liberally  and  gladly  to  the  support  of  the 
gospel,  upon  which  rest  the  eternal  hopes  of  man.  Let  us 
h^ personally  interested  and  faithful  to  all  these  responsibilities  ; 
and  then  that  light,  which  so  long  ago  was  kindled  on  this 
sacred  hill,  shall  continue  to  shine,  to  warm  and  to  bless 
men.  Long  after  we  have  left  the  scenes  of  earth  and  gone  to 
join  that  great  company  of  the  redeemed,  we  shall  be  remem- 
bered, as  we  remember  our  ancestors  to-day ;  and  to  God  the 
Father  and  to  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  the  praise  and  the 
glory  forever.     Amen. 


F)lSrP0I^I6AIi    DlSGOUl^^SE 


BY    PROF.    E.   P.    CROWELL. 

While  towns  and  colleges  are  making  special  observance 
of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  their  foundation,  and  the  whole 
country  has  ever  since  1874  been  passing  through  a  series  of 
centennial  celebrations  of  momentous  political  events, — 
reaching  this  very  year  that  of  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Great 
Britain  and  the  disbanding  of  the  Revolutionary  Army, — we 
certainly.  Respected  Friends,  have  no  occasion  to  apologize 
for  this  assembling  to-day  to  pay  such  regard  as  we  may  to 
an  occurrence  of  so  much  greater  antiquity,  the  planting 
in  this  community,  two  centuries  ago,  of  this  church  and 
parish,  which  have  been  living  on,  the  centre  and  spring  of 
the  religious  and  almost  of  the  secular  life  of  this  people 
during  these  two  hundred  years. 

You  do  not  need  to  be  reminded  that  it  is  now  ninety  years 
and  more  since  the  frame  of  the  present  church  edifice  (which 
is  the  fourth),  with  its  oaken  posts,  was  raised  on  the  spot, 
which  forty  years  earlier  than  that,  had,  at  the  erection  of  the 
third  church  building,  been  consecrated  to  the  worship  of 
God,  and  which  has,  ever  since  1752,  been  known  as  meeting- 
house hill. 

As  lately  as  1 864  the  location  and  ground-plan  of  the  second 
meeting-house,  erected  in  1718,  near  the  site  of  the  present 
town  pound,  were  marked  perfectly  by  the  underpinning  stones, 


36  Congregational  CJmrcJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

remaining  for  all  that  intervening  period  a  memorial  —  like 
the  twelve  stones  taken  out  of  Jordan,  and  pitched  in  Gilgal  — 
of  the  place  where  were  manifested  the  power  and  grace  of 
the  Lord  toward  us  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. 

But  for  the  event  we  are  now  commemorating  our  thoughts 
must  ascend  past  all  these  intermediate  stages  of  this  paro- 
chial history,  beyond  everything  that  has  taken  place  in  the 
life  of  the  nation  and  the  province,  to  a  point  within  the  limits 
of  the  earliest  colonial  period,  when,  in  the  first  .meeting- 
house, built  three  years  before,  at  the  North  End,  near  the 
site  of  the  house  and  barns  of  Mr.  Nehemiah  Dodge,  this 
church  was  constituted,  and  the  Rev.  John  Wise  ordained  its 
pastor  on  the  I2th  of  August  (  O.  s. )  in  the  year  1683. 

The  mere  fact  that  our  church  and  parish  have  reached  so 
venerable  an  age  is  however  the  least  of  our  reasons  for  ob- 
serving this  bi-centennial.  These  special  services  in  honor 
of  this  birthday  are  made  in  the  highest  degree  becoming  be- 
cause of  the  qualities  and  the  doings  of  the  ministers  and 
the  laymen  of  this  Religious  Society  in  all  the  past.  Be- 
cause of  its  vigorous  life  and  its  beneficient  career  in  every 
generation  from  the  beginning  until  now,  it  is  meet  and  our 
bounden  duty  to  consider  these  years  of  many  generations, 
as  one  epoch  now  closes,  and  we  stand  on  the  threshold  of 
another. 

Through  tradition  and  the  printed  page*  you  are  well  ac- 
quainted with  this  chapter  of  church  and  parish  history,  and 
there  is  no  need,  if  there  were  time,  of  my  undertaking  to 
tell  the  whole  story,  full  of  interest  as  it  is.  I  only  ask  you 
to  review  with  me  three  passages  in  this  history,  which  per- 
haps best  illustrate  what  these  twin  institutions  have  been, 
the  changes  they  have  passed  through   and  the  work  they 

♦History  of  the  Town  of  Essex  from  1634  to  1868  by  the  h\te  Rev.  Robert 
Crowell  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Conj^regational  Church  in  Essex.  Essex: 
Published  bv  the  Town.  1868. 


Two  Hiiuih'cdtJi  A 


nnivcrsary.  37 


have  done,  and  which  may  therefore  most  suitably  be  recalled 
to  our  thoughts,  and  accounted  most  worthy  of  permanent 
remembrance. 

I.  The  first  of  these  passages  is,  of  course,  that  which 
describes  the  circumstances  of  the  founding  of  this  E^cclesi- 
astical  body. 

If  then  we  inquire  what  it  was  which  brought  about  the 
establishment  of  this  church  and  parish,  we  cannot  fail  to 
find  the  real  cause  and  the  explanation  in  the  character  of 
the  people  of  Chebacco  —  their  piety,  their  intelligence,  and 
their  force  of  will  combined. 

You  recollect  that  the  great  current  of  emigration  from 
England,  beginning  in  1620  and  bringing  to  these  shores 
some  twenty  thousand  souls,  had  nearly  ceased  to  flow  about 
forty  years  before  the  time  to  which  we  are  now  turning  our 
attention  ;  and  though  not  a  few  of  the  first  settlers  were  still 
living,  a  large  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  here  were  now, 
in  1683,  Englishmen  of  the  second  generation,  many  of  them, 
to  be  sure,  born  in  the  mother  country.  Their  fathers  had 
come  bringing  them  from  various  parts  of  the  ancestral  land  ; 
from  Bristol  in  the  southwest,  on  the  banks  of  the  Avon, 
through  which  Wyckliffe's  ashes  had  flowed  to  the  sea;  from 
the  flourishing  cathedral  city  of  Norwich,  the  capital  of  Nor- 
folk county  on  the  east  coast,  where  in  1580  (as  our  highest 
authority  on  the  history  of  Congregationalism  has  told  us,) 
by  the  prompting  and  under  the  guidance  of  Robert  Browne, 
the  first  church  in  modern  days  had  been  formed,  which  was 
intelligently  Congregational  in  its  platform  and  processes  ;  from 
old  Ipswich  also,  the  capital  of  Sufl"olk  county,  noted  as  the 
birth-place  of  Cardinal  Wolsey  and  for  its  Grammar  School, 
revived  by  him,  though  founded  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the 
Fourth  ;  and  from  various  smaller  villages  in  its  vicinity,  such 
as  Groton,  the  old  home  of  Governor  Winthrop. 

And  these  new-world  founders  were  of  the  very  choicest 
fruit  of  the  Protestant  reformation.     The  dwellers  in  Chebacco 


38  Congregational  Clinrch   and  Parish,  Essex. 

between  the  years  1676  and  1683  were  thus  of  the  bone  and 
sinew  of  a  town  of  which  Edward  Johnson,  an  author  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  in  his  History  of  New  England,  said : 
"The  peophng  of  Ipswich  is  by  men  of  good  rank  and 
quaUty,  many  of  them  having  the  revenue  of  large  lands  in 
England,  before  they  came  to  this  country;"  and  of  which 
Cotton  Mather,  in  1638,  declared:  "Here  was  a  renowned 
church  consisting  of  such  illuminated  christians,  that  their 
pastors,  in  the  exercise  of  their  ministry,  might  think  that 
they  had  to  do,  not  so  much  with  disciples  as  with  judges." 

These  Chebacco  residents  were  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
the  original  occupants  of  a  territory,  of  which,  in  common 
with  all  those  settled  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  a  recent  writer 
has  remarked  that  "there  was  in  the  early  emigration  to  this 
region,  besides  the  educated  Puritan  clergymen,  quite  another 
admixture  than  that  of  learning,  a  sturdy  yeomanry,  led  hither 
by  the  desire  to  better  its  condition  and  create  a  new  religi- 
ous world  around  it." 

These  our  ancestors  of  two  hundred  years  ago  were  among 
the  freemen  of  a  body  politic,  of  which,  what  Rev.  William 
Stoughton  said  in  his  election  sermon  in  1668  of  all  New 
England  was  preeminently  true,  that  "  God  sifted  a  whole 
nation  that  he  might  send  choice  grain  into  this  wilderness." 

The  men  and  women  who  proposed  to  themselves  the 
founding  of  this  church,  belonged  to  a  municipality  where 
already  for  forty-one  years  there  had  been  a  free  school,  and 
a  standing  town  ruleahat  the  selectmen  should  see  that  no 
child  fail  to  be  taught  reading  and  the  principles  of  religion 
and  the  capital  laws  of  the  country;  where  for  thirty-two 
years  there  had  been  an  endowed  Grammar  School,  at  which 
some  thirty-five  boys  had  already  been  fitted  for  Harvard 
College. 

Not  only  had  the  town  of  Ipswich,  of  which  Chebacco  was 
an  integral  part,  thus  laid  a  foundation  for  the  intelligence 
and   virtue  of  all  within  its  borders,  as  well  as  reproduced  the 


Tivo  Hundredth  Anniversary.  39 

local  civil  institutions  of  the  old  country  and  aided  in  setting 
up  the  fabric  of  a  State  government,  but  it  was  now,  accord- 
ing to  the  historian  Palfrey,  "the  second  town  in  the  colony  in 
importance,  having  a  larger  degree  of  talent  and  intelligence 
than  almost  any  other,"  and  in  King  Philip's  war,  (i.e.  1675) 
**one  of  the  centres  of  intelligence,  of  whose  church  several  of 
the  officers  and  many  of  the  troops,  who  did  good  service, 
were  members."  And  it  was  also  now  experiencing  to  the  full 
the  stimulating  and  developing  effect  of  the  political  agitations 
of  all  that  formative  period. 

In  the  contests  between  the  crown  and  the  colony  over  the 
civil  rights  claimed  by  the  latter,  which  had  been  almost  con- 
tinually going  on  throughout  the  reigns  of  the  first  and 
second  Charles,  intermitted  only  during  the  few  years  of  the 
ascendancy  of  Cromwell  and  the  Commonwealth,  and  which 
were  to  terminate  with  the  unrighteous  taking  away  of  the 
colonial  charter,  the  very  next  year,  1684,  by  Charles  the 
second,  the  citizens  of  this  as  well  as  of  the  other  parts  of 
Ipswich  were  as  deeply  interested  spectators  or  participants, 
as  any  of  you  were  in  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  or  in  the  state 
and  Federal  election  campaigns  which  have  taken  place  since. 
And  largely  by  these  experiences  were  their  mental  powers 
made  acute,  their  love  of  liberty  inflamed,  their  manhood 
moulded  and   disciplined.  : 

The  church  at  Ipswich  centre  which  was  now  about  a  half- 
century  old,  founded  in  May,  1634,  the  year  of  the  settlement 
of  Chebacco,  had  been  first  under  the  ministrations  of  Rev. 
Nathaniel  Ward  of  Cambridge  University  and  formerly  a 
lawyer  in  England,  of  so  acute  and  vigorous  a  mind,  and  so 
learned  in  jurisprudence  that  he  was  appointed  by  the  civil 
authorities  to  compose  the  earliest  statute  code  of  the  colony 
—  the  one  hundred  fundamental  laws  styled  the  "Body  of 
Liberties" — which  Palfrey  calls  a  great  monument  of  his  wis- 
dom and  learning,  and  which  he  says  will  compare  favorably 
with  other  works  of  its  class  in  any  age. 


40  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

Its  ministers,  during  the  childhood  and  youth  of  those  in 
Chebacco  now  in  mature  Hfe,  had  been  the  colleagues  John 
Norton  of  the  same  English  University,  also  distinguished  for 
learning  and  for  his  stirring  eloquence,  who  took  a  leading 
part  in  the  synod  which  constructed  the  Cambridge  platform 
of  faith  and  discipline  in  1648,  and  Nathaniel  Rogers,  also  an 
English  University  man,  whom  Cotton  Mather,  in  1702,  called 
the  Holy  and  regarded  as  "one  of  the  greatest  divines  that 
ever  set  foot  upon  the  American  strand." 

For  nearly  the  thirty  years  (prior  to  1683)  during  which 
the  Chebacco  people  who  were  to  embark  in  this  new  enter- 
prise had  been  on  the  stage  of  active  life,  the  religious  welfare 
of  Ipswich  had  been  nominally  cared  for  by  three  spiritual 
guides  at  once.  One  of  them,  the  venerable  Thomas  Cobbet, 
educated  at  Oxford,  driven  for  conscience  sake  to  the  new 
world,  who  through  his  talents,  erudition  and  skill  as  a  writer 
and  theologian  had  stood  in  the  foremost  rank  of  New  Eng- 
land divines,  was  now,  to  be  sure,  at  the  infirm  age  of  seventy- 
five. 

The  second,  John  Rogers,  a  son  of  Rev.  Nathaniel,  was 
rather  in  the  position  of  an  assistant,  having  charge  of  the 
Thursday  lecture,  and  chiefly  absorbed  in  his  other  profession 
as  the  principal  physician  of  the  town  —  a  scholar  and  a  sci- 
entist, elected  President  of  Harvard  College,  and  inaugu- 
rated to  that  office,  it  so  happened,  the  very  day  this  Chebacco 
church  was  constituted.  But  the  third  of  these  colleagues  in 
the  pastoral  ofiice,  the  Rev.  William  Hubbard,  born  in  Eng- 
land, but  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  regarded  by  a  contemporary 
historian  as  "certainly  for  many  years  the  most  eminent  min- 
ister in  the  county  of  Essex,  equal  to  any  in  the  Province 
for  learning  and  candor,  and  superior  to  all  his  contemporaries 
as  a  writer,"  described  from  other  contemporary  allusions  "as 
a  stately,  affable  and  accomplished  gentleman,  the  ideal  coun- 
try pastor  in  a  highly  intellectual  community,"  was  precisely 
at  this  juncture  in  the   mature  vigor  of  manhood,  and   active 


Two  Himdredth  Anniversary .  41 

and   influential   in  all  the  ecclesiastical    affairs  of   the  whole 
town. 

These  statements  may  be  sufficient  to  remind  us  what  were 
the  antecedents  and  the  political  training,  and  what  the  educa- 
tional and  religious  privileges  of  our  fathers,  who  took  into 
serious  consideration  the  spiritual  interests  and  needs  of  this 
growing  and  thriving  precinct  of  Ipswich,  at  their  first  meet- 
ing for  consultation  on  that  subject,  at  the  house  of  William 
Cogswell,  a  little  north  of  the  site  of  Mr.  Albert  Cogswell's,  in 
February,  1677. 

Their  character,  then,  admirably  qualified  them  for  enter- 
ing on  this  great  and  good  work.  But  who  actually  took  the 
initiative  in  it?  Was  it  these  associate -pastors  at  the  centre? 
By  no  manner  of  means.  We  discover  not  a  trace  of  their 
ever  holding  preaching  services  in  this  remote  but  populous 
part  of  the  town,  or  of  their  taking  any  measures  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  stated  religious  worship  here,  or  of  their  even 
encouraging  any  movement  in  that  direction.  There  seems 
to  have  been  on  their  part  a  most  singular  inaction  and  an 
indifference  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  this  large  part  of  their 
flock,  all  the  more  strange  because  Prince's  Christian  History 
tells  us  that  "a  gradual  decline  of  religion  and  morals  grew 
very  visible  and  threatening  as  early  as  1 670  and  was  gener- 
ally complained  of  and  bitterly  bewailed,  by  the  pious ;  and 
yet  much  more  in  1680."  Was  it  really  indifference?  Felt's 
History  of  Ipswich  makes  the  unconsciously  sarcastic  state- 
ment that  in  1677  "Rev.  Mr.  Hubbard  was  tried,  in  having  a 
part  of  his  people  at  Chebacco  much  engaged  in  endeavors 
to  have  Mr.  Jeremiah  Shepard  for  their  minister;  his  chief 
objection  being  that  Mr.  Shepard  had  not  become  a  member 
of  any  church."  Indeed  !  Then  he  did  have  other  objec- 
tions, also.  And  this  little  piece  of  evidence  is  sufficient 
to  prove  that  Mr.  Hubbard's  position  as  to  this  project  was 
not  one  of  support  or  approval. 

When  the  historian  Palfrey  gives  us  some  insight  into  his 


42  Congregational  CJiurch  and  Parish y  Essex. 

character  in  the  declaration  that  "Hubbard  took  no  generous 
part  in  the  great  poHtical  struggles  of  his  time,  and  that  the 
tone  of  his  History  of  New  England  \s  courtly  and  timid;" 
when  we  hear  not  a  syllable  of  remonstrance  from  this  Ipswich 
minister  in  unison  with  the  outspoken  opposition  of  his  fellow- 
townsmen  to  Governor  Andros'  tyranny  in  1687,  and  learn 
that  he  was  appointed  by  that  governor  the  acting  president 
of  Harvard  College  in  1688,  we  cannot  but  infer  that  such  a 
man  sided  with  his  parishioners  at  the  centre,  in  positive 
opposition  to  the  loss  of  so  much  taxable  property,  from  his 
parish,  as  would  be  caused  by  the  creation  of  another  parish 
at  Chebacco. 

At  any  rate  it  is  plain  that  without  the  counsel  or  sanction, 
without  the  help  or  sympathy  of  their  spiritual  advisers,  the 
movement  for  the  founding  of  this  church  and  parish  began 
with  the  residents  of  this  village  themselves,  from  their  own 
deep  sense  of  the  value  and  the  need  of  better  religious  privi- 
leges for  all  in  their  community.  Recall  their  own  statement 
of  the  reasons  for  their  acting  in  this  matter,  and  of  the  motive 
which  inspired  them. 

The  record  reads :  "At  this  [the  first]  meeting,  the  inhab- 
itants of  Chebacco,  considering  the  great  straits  they  were  in 
for  want  of  the  means  of  grace  among  themselves  ; "  and  :  "that 
we  might  obtain  the  ministry  of  the  word  among  ourselves, 
which  is  our  heart's  desire;"  and  further:  "that  we  might  be 
eased  of  our  long  and  tiresome  Sabbath  days*  journeys  to  the 
place  of  public  worship  in  our  town  ;  for  some  hundreds  of 
our  inhabitants  do  not  nor  with  convenience  can  attend  the 
public  worship  at  town ;  and  of  so  considerable  a  number  of 
the  inhabitants  as  are  amongst  us,  scarce  fifty  persons  the  year 
throughout  do  attend  the  public  worship  of  God  on  the 
Sabbath  days."  And  their  first  petition  to  the  General  Court, 
June  I,  1677,  mentions,  as  a  reason  for  having  liberty  to  build 
a  meeting  house,  their  desire  "to  prevent  the  profanation  of 
the  Sabbath,  they  living  so  remote." 


Tivo  HiindrcdtJi  Anniversary.  43 

Several  things  in  their  movement  are  worthy  of  particular 
notice,  for  a  full  appreciation  of  what  these  men  were  and 
what  they  accomplished. 

One  is  their  respect  for  authority,  their  careful  conformity 
to  existing  requirements  in  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  civil 
affairs,  the  law-loving  and  law-abiding  spirit  manifest  in  them, 
saddled  though  they  were  with  the  burden  of  helping  to  sup- 
port three  ministers  at  once,  without  being  permitted  to  have 
the  preaching  services  of  either  of  them,  even  in  the  winter, 
and  deeply  conscious  that  the  management  of  their  own 
religious  affairs  by  themselves  and  for  themselves  was  a  part 
of  their  inalienable  rights. 

Another  is  the  clear,  logical,  masterly  way  in  which  they 
present  and  maintain  their  cause  before  the  General  Court,  in 
what  they  call  "A  declaration  and  vindication  of  the  transac- 
tions of  the  inhabitants  of  Chebacco  in  the  precincts  of  Ipswich, 
in  reference  to  their  late  proceedings  in  obtaining  the  ministry 
of  the  Gospel  among  them."  I  presume  you  are  all  familiar 
with  this  remarkable  document ;  but  I  cannot  refrain  from  quot- 
ing their  statement  of  a  few  of  the  arguments  and  the  charges 
Ipswich  had  brought  against  them,  and  the  points  they  so 
aptly  make  in  reply : 

"I.  Thej  [The  Ipswich  selectmen]  alleged  that  the  war  was  not  jet  past, 
and  God's  judgments  were  jet  hanging  over  us,  and  the  town  was  at  great 
charge;  to  which  we  replied,  that  when  we  sought  to  have  the  means  of 
grace  amongst  ourselves,  we  looked  at  it  as  our  dutj;  and  therefore,  when 
the  judgments  of  God  were  amongst  us,  that  it  was  rather  an  argument 
to  stir  us  up  to  our  dutj  than  to  lie  under  the  omission  of  it ;  neither  would 
we  put  the  town  to  charge,  either  to  erect  our  meeting-house,  or  maintain 
our  minister." 

"3.  Thej  alleged  we  belonged  to  the  town,  and  therefore,  were  obliged 
to  help  the  town  to  bear  the  charges,  and  thej  could  not  spare  our  monej; 
to  which  we  replied  that  thej  alleged,  at  the  General  Court,  that  we  paid 
onlj  17  or  18  pounds  to  the  ministers  of  Ipswich;  and  there  were  three 
ministers  to  whom  the  town  paid  200  pounds  per  annum  ;  and  if  the  town 
would  supplj  us  with  one  of  them,  we  would  paj  one  of  them  fiftj  pounds 
toward  his  maintenance  jearlj.  Then  thej  replied,  that  could  not  be  ;  and 
that  our  want  was  onlj  in  the  winter,   and  if  we  could  get  a  minister  to 


44  Co7igrcgatio7ial  Clmrch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

preach  to  us  in  the  winter,  thej  would  free  us  from  paying  to  the  minister 
in  the  town,  in  the  winter  season  ;  and  we  should  come  to  the  public  worship 
in  the  town  in  the  summer,  and  pay  there.  We  put  ourselves  in  a  posture 
for  the  entertainingthe  gospel,  and  were  willing  to  lay  aside  our  self-interests, 
that  we  might  build  a  house  for  the  worship  of  God,  which  we  were  the 
more  vigorous  in,  by  reason  that  we  had  experienced  much,  in  a  little  time, 
of  the  sweetness  and  good  of  that  privilege  in  enjoying  the  means  amongst 
ourselves,  whereby  the  generality  of  our  inhabitants  could  comfortably 
attend  the  public  worship  of  God.  The  house  that  we  have  been  busied 
about  for  this  place  of  public  worship,  we  ever  intended  for  such  an  end, 
always  with  this  provisal,  that  this  Honored  Court  do  authorise  the  same, 
or  countenance  our  proceedings  therein  :  if  not,  we  shall  ever  own  ourselves 
loyal  subjects  to  authority;  and  therefore,  the  same  is  erected  upon  a  pro- 
priety, that  if  this  Honored  Court  see  not  meet  to  favor  our  proceedings, 
we  may  turn  our  labors  to  our  best  advantage.  These  things  we  desire  to 
leave  with  this  Honored  Court,  as  a  declaration  of  our  cause,  and  a  vin- 
dication of  our  innocency,  and  are  ready  further  to  inform  this  Honored 
Court,  in  what  they  may  please  to  demand,  or  in  what  may  be  alleged 
against  our  proceedings." 

A  third  thing  worthy  of  notice  in  these  proceedings  is  the 
dehberateness  with  which  they  set  themselves  at  work,  the 
skilful  measures  they  adppted  and  the  indomitable  persever- 
ance they  exercised  in  overcoming  the  obstacles  which  in 
succession  blocked  their  way  at  every  step.  At  their  first 
meeting,  in  February,  1677,  the  inhabitants  of  Chebacco 
unanimously  drew  up  a  petition  and  soon  after  presented  it 
to  the  town,  desiring  liberty  to  call  a  minister  to  preach  among 
themselves.  This  the  town  neither  granted  nor  denied,  but 
would  not  vote  upon  it.  Chebacco  then  petitioned  the  General 
Court,  only  to  be  referred  back  (June  i,  1677  )  to  the  town  ; 
which  by  direction  of  the  Court  made  answer  at  the  next 
session  of  that  body  in  October.  But  even  then,  the  Legisla- 
ture, "considering  what  was  alleged  by  Ipswich,"  would  only 
"judge  it  not  meet  to  grant  the  petition  at  prcscnf ;  but  seriously 
commended  it  to  the  town  "to  contrive  as  soon  as  may  be  for 
the  accomodation  of  the  petitioners."  By  vote  of  the  town, 
March  2,  1678,  the  Selectmen  held  several  conferences  with 
the  Chebacco  leaders  but  without  any  result.  The  latter  next 
asked  leave  to  invite  Mr.  Jeremiah  Shepard  to  preach  to  them, 


Two  Hundredth  Anniversary.  45 

to  which  none  of  the  town  fathers  objected  and  some  of  them 
assented.  After  he  had  preached  a  few  Sabbaths  beginning 
with  January  19,  1679,  there  was  an  intimation  "from  an  honor- 
able brother"  at  the  centre,  that  the  church  were  dissatisfied 
with  the  proceedings  here,  and  so  he  ceased  preaching.  Feb- 
ruary 4,  a  second  petition  was  presented  to  the  town,  the  only 
effect  of  which  was  that  the  town  sent  to  the  General  Court, 
March  15,  a  petition  and  address  with  grave  charges  against 
Chebacco. 

"  Not  long  after  this,"  as  the  records  tell  us,  "the  sills  of 
the  meeting-house  were  laid  in  Mr.  William  Cogswell's  land 
and  the  timber  in  place  ready  to  raise.  While  we  were  in  this 
great  conflict,  that  all  things  seemed  to  act  against  us,  some 
women,  without  the  knowledge  of  their  husbands,  and  with 
the  advice  of  some  men,  went  to  other  towns  and  got  help 
and  raised  that  house  that  we  had  intended  for  a  meeting- 
house, if  we  could  get  liberty." 

This  was  the  heinous  offence  for  which  Mrs.  William  Goodhue, 
Mrs.  Thomas  Varney,  and  Mrs.  Abraham  Martin  were  arrested, 
tried  in  Ipswich,  found  guilty  of  contempt  of  authority  and 
bound  over  to  the  next  Court  in  Salem.  Although  this  tran- 
saction complicated  matters  still  more  and  somewhat  embar- 
rassed the  Chebacco  fathers  and  husbands,  they  went  on  with 
the  preparation  of  the  "Declaration  of  their  cause  and  Vin- 
dication of  their  innocency,"  and  duly  submitted  the  document 
to  the  General  Court,  which  on  the  28th  of  May  (1679)  passed 
an  order,  which  together  with  the  action  of  the  committee 
appointed  by  it  is  to  be  considered  as  the  act  of  incorporation 
or  charter  of  the  Parish.* 

And  so  in  April  1680  the  house  is  dedicated,  and  in  re- 
sponse to  their  call  and  by  leave  of  the  Great  and  General 
Court,  Mr.  Wise  begins  his  preaching  in  it.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, until  February  of  the  next  year,  1681,  that  the  people 
were  released  from  taxation  for  the  support  of  the  ministry 

*  See  Appendix  A. 


4-6  Congregational  CJmrch   and  Parish,  Essex. 

at  the  centre ;  and  although  the  church  members  Hving  in 
Chebacco  made  request,  September  6,  1681,  for  dismission 
from  the  mother  church,  in  order  to  organize  the  new  one, 
they  were  unable  to  obtain  release  from  its  bonds  for  nearly 
two  years  more. 

With  such  steady  persistence  did  these  children  of  the 
Puritans,  engrossed  though  they  were  with  the  work  of  the 
farm,  the  mill,  the  shop,  the  ship-yard  and  the  fishery,  push 
on  this  most  noble  and  laudable  project,  for  six  long  years, 
until  their  efforts  were  crowned  with  complete  success. 

When  you  look  carefully  over  their  doings  and  read  their 
own  plain  and  methodical  statement  of  the  facts  in  the  case, 
entered  upon  their  records  for  permanent  preservation  and 
the  knowledge  of  their  posterity,  you  know  not  which  most 
to  admire,  in  your  survey  of  this  protracted  contest,  the  un- 
conquerable determination  of  Englishmen  to  gain  full  pos- 
session of  their  religious  rights,  for  the  enjoyment  of  which 
they  had  been  brought,  from  a  land  of  plenty  they  could  see 
no  more,  into  all  the  hardships  and  privations  of  the  new 
world,  and  to  leave  "unstained  what  there  they -found, —  free- 
dom to  worship  God"  as  their  consciences  dictated  —  or  the 
shrewdness  and  the  skill  with  which  these,  by  no  means  "rude 
forefathers  of  the  hamlet"  pressed  their  rightful  claim  to  a 
meeting-house  and  a  minister  of  their  own,  to  a  triumphant 
conclusion  on  that  12th  of  August,  1683;  when  in  that 
crowded  audience-room,  this  church  of  Christ  was  organized, 
the  covenant  entered  into  and  Mr.  Wise  formally  set  apart  to 
the  work  of  the  gospel  ministry  and  the  pastoral  care  of 
Chebacco  parish. 

Consider,  further,  who  the  individual  leaders  in  this  matters 
were,  —  known  to  us,  as  they  are  in  part,  through  their  de- 
scendants. 

The  first  committee  of  conference  with  the  Ipswich  select- 
men, were  William  Cogswell,  then  about  sixty-four  years  of 
age,  John  Andrews,  Senior,  sixty,  Thomas  Low,  fifty-one,  and 


Tivo  HnndredtJi  Anniversary.  47 

William  Goodhue,  forty-three.  Two  of  these,  Cogswell  and 
Andrews,  were  also  on  the  committee  of  four,  who  acted  for 
the  church  at  its  organization,  and  arc  the  only  ones  mentioned 
by  name,  of  its  original  members.  A  third  on  that  organizing 
committee  was  William  Story,  aged  sixty-nine,  and  the  fourth 
was  John  Burnham,  sixty-seven,  one  of  the  first  two  deacons. 
John  Choate,  at  this  time  a  young  man  of  twenty- two,  later 
on  in  the  first  pastorate,  also  held  the  office  of  deacon.  These 
men  we  may  then  reasonably  regard  as  the  seven  pillars  in 
this  new  structure. 

William  Cogswell  was  a  descendant  of  Lord  Humphrey 
Cogswell,  whose  coat  of  arms  dated  from  the  year  1447,  and 
was  one  of  the  three  sons  of  the  wealthy  merchant,  John 
Cogswell,  a  passenger  in  the  ship  Angel  Gabriel,  and  the 
progenitor  of  all  of  that  name  in  this  town.  One  of  William's 
great-grandsons,  Jonathan  Cogswell,  was  also  a  deacon  from 
1780  until  his  death  in  18 12,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six;  and 
another,  Col.  Jonathan  Cogswell,  who  died  in  18 19,  was  an 
officer  in  the  Revolution.  From  William's  brother  John  have 
descended  two  of  your  bi-centennial  committee  —  one  of  them 
a  deacon  for  twenty-one  years  already. 

John  Andrews,  Sen.,  a  freeman  of  Ipswich  in  1642,  was 
one  of  the  six  who  joined  Mr.  Wise  in  that  preparatory  cau- 
cus at  the  centre  four  years  later  (Aug.  22,  1687),  where, 
according  to  a  reliable  reporter,  ''they  discoursed  and  con- 
cluded that  it  was  not  the  town's  duty  anyway,  to  assist  that 
ill  method  of  raising  money,  which  Sir  Edmund  Andros  had 
ordered,  without  a  general  assembly;"  and  in  his  resistance 
in  town  meeting  the  next  day,  to  this  attempted  illegal  taxa- 
tion, which,  as  the  vote  of  Ipswich  declared,  *'doth  infringe 
their  liberty  as  free-born  English  subjects  of  His  Majesty.'' 
With  the  others,  Mr.  Andrews  was  arrested,  denied  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus,  imprisoned  in  Boston,  by  a  packed  jury  — 
principally  strangers  and  foreigners  —  found  guilty  of  con- 
tempt and  high  misdemeanor,  made  ineligible  for  office,  fined 


48  Congregational  ChnrcJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

£T)0  and  costs,  and  put  under  bonds  of  ^^500.  From  Mr. 
Andrews  have  descended  all  of  that  name  in  town,  among 
them  his  grandson,  John  Andrews,  a  deacon  in  the  church  for 
many  years  until  his  death  in  1750,  and  the  late  Col.  William 
Andrews,  a  man  who  was  said  to  have  filled  many  offices  of 
trust  and  honor  in  town  with  singular  zeal  and  fidelity. 

There  is  good  reason  also  for  believing,  that  this  John 
Andrews,  Sen.,  was  a  son  of  the  Captain  Andrews,  who  com- 
manded the  ship  Angel  Gabriel  on  the  voyage  when  she 
was  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Maine,  and  who  was  the  uncle 
of  the  boys  John  and  Thomas  —  sons  of  Robert  and  Mary 
(Andrews)  Burnham  of  Norwich,  Eng. —  sailing  to  this  coun- 
try under  his  charge  and  (with  another  brother)  the  ancestors 
of  all  that  wide-spread  and  numerous  family.  This  John 
Burnham,  who  was  one  of  the  first  deacons,  was  the  grand- 
father of  a  John  Burnham  who  was  deacon  from  1732,  till  his 
death  in  1746,  and  the  great  grandfather  of  Thomas  Burnham, 
a  deacon  thirty-four  years  from  1765  to  1799,  who  for  many 
years  lined  the  psalm  and  set  the  tune  in  Church,  and  was 
also  a  school  teacher.  Among  others  of  his  descendants,  were 
Maj.  John  Burnham,  who  served  in  the  Continental  Army 
throughout  the  Revolutionary  war,  styled  by  his  Colonel, 
(afterwards  Gov.  Brooks)  ''one  of  the  best  disciplinarians  and 
most  p-allant  officers  of  the  Revolution,"  a  member  of  the 
church  here  for  many  years  until  his  removal  to  Derry,  N.H., 
in  1798,  where  he  died  in  1843  aged  94;  and  Maj.  John's 
brother  Samuel,  a  man  of  sterling  worth  and  a  leading  citizen 
throughout  a  long  life  in  Dunbarton,  N.  H.,  to  which  he  re- 
moved about  1765.  Four  of  his  sons  and  sixteen  others  of 
his  descendants  were  graduates  of  Colleges.  From  the 
brother  of  Dea.  John  Burnham  also  descended  the  four 
deacons  of  this  name  in  the  present  century. 

From  that  same  town  of  Norwich,  England,  came  also  in 
1637,  William  Story,  a  carpenter,  one  of  this  committee  of 
conference  with  the  selectmen,  and  one  of  the  original  church 


Tzvo  HimdredtJi  Anniversary.  49 

members.  His  son,  Seth  Story,  was  a  deacon  from  1694  till 
his  death  in  1732.  His  grandson,  Seth  Story,  was  a  deacon 
and  afterwards  a  ruling  elder,  until  his  death  in  1786  at  the 
age  of  ninty-three ;  and  his  grandson,  Zechariah  Story,  was 
a  deacon  forty-four  years  until  his  death  in  1774,  at  the  age 
of  ninety.  They  were  both  farmers  and  lived  at  the  Falls, 
near  the  spot  where  now  stands  the  house  of  Mr.  Adoniram 
Story.  Of  this  Dea.  Zechariah  Story,  a  daughter,  Deborah, 
a  true  mother  in  Israel,  married  Wesley  Burnham,  and  lived 
to  the  age  of  ninety-eight ;  and  the  children  of  one  of  her 
sons  (Wesley  Burnham,  2d),  were  Molly,  Nathan,  Asa, 
Michael,  Henry,  Anne,  Samuel,  Richard,  Ruth  and  Wesley 
Burnham  3d  ;  and  the  wife  of  this  Wesley  was  Hannah  a 
granddaughter  of  that  same  Elder  Seth  Story  and  the  mother 
of  seven  children,  whom  you  have  well  known  as  active  and 
useful  members  of  this  church,  within  a  generation. 

From  a  brother  of  William  Story  have  descended  the  rest 
of  the  name  in  this  place,  of  whom  I  can  only  mention,  be- 
cause of  their  prominence  in  parish  affairs,  or  of  their  con- 
nection with  the  history  of  this  Church, — William  Story,  a 
merchant  in  Boston,  a  leading  man  in  the  Separatist  Society 
there  in  1746,  and  a  delegate  from  it  on  the  Council  which 
organized  the  Separate  church  here  that  year,  some  of  whose 
letters,  still  preserved  written  in  a  clear,  beautiful  hand,  and  well 
expressed,  indicate  a  degree  of  culture  beyond  the  average  of 
that  time;  "Master"  Joseph  Story,  a  Revolutionary  soldier, 
a  school  teacher  for  thirty  years  and  parish  clerk  for  a  long 
period ;  and  Esq.  Jonathan  Story,  the  able  and  impartial 
magistrate,  the  influential  and  useful  citizen  of  the  present 
century,  often  holding  offices  in  the  parish. 

Dea.  Thomas  Low,  (a  son  of  the  first  settler  of  that  name 
in  Ipswich  and  a  grandson  of  Capt.  John  Low,  commander  of 
the  ship  Ambrose  and  acting  rear-admiral  of  a  fleet  of  twelve 
ships  sailing  to  Salem  in  1630,)  was  born  in  1632,  was  a  dea- 
con from  1683  until  his  death  in  1712,  for  several  years  was 


50  Congregational  CJuircJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

parish  clerk,  and  prominent  in  all  the  affairs  of  the  community. 
It  is  on  land  which  he  owned,  and  near  his  homestead  that  we 
are    gathered    to-day.     Among  his    descendants    have    been 
Lieut.  Stephen  Low,  killed  in  battle  in  the  French  and  Indian 
war ;    Major  Caleb  Low  and  Capt.  David  Low,  soldiers  of  the 
Revolution  ;    and  of  this   century  Capt.  Winthrop  Low,  the 
first    one  to  rise  to  take  the  pledge,  when  volunteers  were 
called  for,  after  the  first  temperance  address  here,  in    1829, 
*'  a  consistent,  liberal  supporter  of  the  institutions  of  religion" 
and  fully  and  heartily  identified  with  all  the  interests  of  the 
parish,  as  one  of  its  most  influential  and  wealthy  members. 
William  Goodhue,  the  fourth  on  the  conference  committee, 
(a  son  of  William  Goodhue,  freeman  of  Ipswich,  in  1636,  who 
was  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  most   influential  men  in  the 
colony  of  Massachusetts,  conferring  honor  upon  his  name  and 
family  by  his  many  virtues),   married    Hannah,  an   Ipswich 
girl,  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Francis  Dane,  afterwards  of  Andover. 
She  was  one  of  the  three  wide  awake,  fearless  and  energetic 
women,  who  committed  the  enormous  crime  of  procuring  or 
abetting  the  raising  of  a  meeting-house  in  Chebacco.     As  this 
affair  attests,  she  was  well  matched  with  her  husband,  who, 
believing  with  his  pastor  that  "we   have  a  good  God  and  a 
good  King,  and  should  do  well  to  stand  on  our  privileges," 
shared   with  Mr.  Wise  and  Mr.  Andrews  the  glory  of  impris- 
onment   and   fine    by  Andros,    and  as  the  historian,    Pitkin 
says  of   him,  and  his  associates,    "may  justly  claim   a   dis- 
tinguished rank  among  the  patriots  of  America."  Mr.  Goodhue 
was  one  of  the  selectmen,  and  a  representative  at  several   dif- 
ferent times,  was  a  deacon  in  the  church,  a  leading  man  in  the 
parish,  and  was  "highly  respected,  eminently  useful  and  greatly 
beloved."      Taking  into  consideration  the  fact  that  he  was 
the  only  one  of  the  seven  who  was  just  then   in  the  early 
prime  of  manhood,  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  he  composed 
that  able  memorial,  the  "Declaration  and  Vindication  of  the 
transactions  of    the    people  of   Chebacco."       One    of   Dea. 


Tivo  Hundredth  Anniversary.  51 

Goodhue's  sons  was  Rev.  Francis  Goodhue  who  graduated  at 
Harvard  College,  in  1699,  and  was  pastor  of  a  church  in 
Jamaica,  L.  I.  ;  and  a  descendant  of  his  brother  is  now  in  the 
same  office  of  deacon  here. 

John  Choate,  the  last  of  the  early  deacons,  the  eldest  son 
of  the  first  settler  of  that  name,  and  grandson  of  Goodman 
Choate  of  Groton,  England,  (a  friend  of  Gov.  Winthrop), 
was  born  in  1661,  and  was  an  office-bearer  in  the  church  from 
1712  till  his  death  in  1733.  It  was  his  granddaughter,  the 
wife  of  Gen.  Michael  Farley  who  sent  three  sons  into  the 
Revolutionary  Army,  and  when  the  youngest  of  them,  a  boy 
of  sixteen,  was  about  to  start  for  the  seat  of  war,  ''charo-ed 
him  to  behave  like  a  man;"  and  who,  on  a  sudden  call  for 
ammunition  for  a  company  marching  on  short  notice,  with 
her  own  hands  filled  their  powder  horns  from  a  barrel  of 
powder  in  the  attic  of  her  house.  John's  brother  Benjamin 
was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  in  1703,  and  a  pastor  at  Kingston, 
N.  H.  One  of  his  nephews,  whose  name  was  also  John,  was 
a  man  of  great  ability  and  eminence  in  public  life  from  1731 
until  his  death  in  1766,  as  Judge  of  Probate  and  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  Executive  councillor,  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  and  Col.  of  the  8th  Mass.  regiment  and 
Judge  Advocate  General  in  Pepperell's  successful  expedition 
against  Louisbourg  in  1745.  Another  was  Francis,  a  ruling 
elder  in  the  church  for  thirty-one  years  until  his  death  in 
1777,  and  the  great  grandfather  of  Dea.  David  Choate  and 
Hon.  Rufus  Choate.  A  grand-nephew  of  Dea.  John  Choate, 
Hon.   Stephen  Choate  was  also  a  deacon  from  1765  to  1783. 

What  and  where,  but  for  these  seven  men,  we  might  well 
ask;  would  be  this  virtuous,  well-instructed  and  prosperous 
community  to-day? 

Not  by  direction  of  any  church  authorities  were  these  re- 
ligious institutions  planted  in  that  early  time  on  this  ground ; 
but  by  the  enlightened  piety,  and  the  resolute  temper  of  in- 
dividual laymen,  animated  by  a  common  spirit,  and  unselfishly 


52  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

seeking  the  highest  welfare  of  the  whole  people,  whose  rep- 
resentatives and  leaders  were  these  our  seven  heroes,  these 
heads  of  our  tribes,  William  Cogswell,  John  Andrews,  John 
Burnham,  William  Story,  Thomas  Low,  William  Goodhue, 
John  Choate,  the  master-workmen  in  the  rearing  of  the  goodly 
walls  of  this  our  Zion,  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles 
and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner- 
stone. It  was  their  qualities  of  character,  the  inherited  in- 
telligence, the  sense  of  duty,  the  godly  zeal,  and  the  tenacity 
of  purpose  of  these  Englishmen  of  the  second  generation, 
quickened,  developed,  m^de  stalwart  by  their  long  discipline 
in  a  school  of  trying  experiences,  that  created  this  twin 
organization  of  church  and  parish  on  this  territory.  And 
therefore  let  their  names  be  held  in  highest  honor  and  in  ever- 
lasting remembrance.  Aye,  and  they  shall  be.  This  eccle- 
siastical structure  is  of  itself  their  ever-during  monument, 
for  they  "builded  better  than  they  knew,"  and  through  the 
permanence  of  its  strength  and  beauty,  though  dying,  behold 
they  live.  We  think  of  them,  as  "each  in  his  narrow  cell  for- 
ever laid"  in  yonder  ancient  grave-yard,  which  they  had,  just 
about  that  time,  set  apart  and  put  in  order, — we  say  of  them 
that  they,  like  all  the  dead,  "forgotten  lie,  alike  unknowing 
and  unknown,"  but  in  their  work  their  name  liveth  evermore. 
It  is  no  slight  testimony  to  the  intelligence  of  these  men, 
that  in  their  search  for  a  minister  for  Chebacco,  they  dis- 
cerned the  worth  of  such  a  man  as  Mr.  Wise,  and  by  no 
means  the  least  of  their  services  to  religion  that  they  selected 
and  secured  him  for  their  pastor.  The  special  address  to  be 
presently  given  on  this  occasion  upon  his  life,  pastorate  and 
character,  renders  unnecessary  any  mention  of  this  eminent 
theologian  and  patriot  here. 

It  is  a  matter  of  some  interest,  that  we  have,  preserved  to 
us,  at  least  one  relic  of  this  first  pastorate,  one  symbol  (per- 
haps it  may  be  called)  of  the  unity  of  the  successive  genera- 
tions of  Christian  believers  here. 


Two  Hjindrcdth  Anniversary.  53 

This  sacramental  cup,  marked  *'C.  C."  (Chebacco  Church), 
**I7I2,"  was  in  use  six  years  in  the  first  meeting-house;  it 
was  taken  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Wise  at  every  communion 
service  for  thirteen  years  ;  it  was  passed  to  the  communicants 
by  Deacons  Goodhue  and  Story  and  Choate  ;  in  remembrance 
of  their  divine  Lord  it  was  pressed  many  times  to  the  lips  of 
some  of  the  orignal  members,  who  on  this  day  in  August,  1683, 
took  upon  them  the  covenant  vows  of  this  church,  and,  dur- 
ing the  two  hundred  years  that  have  now  terminated,  has 
been  in  constant  use. 

May  this  chahce  be  sacredly  treasured  in  the  future  and 
aid  in  ministering  to  the  spiritual  life  of  an  ever  increasing 
company,  in  this  goodly  fellowship  from  century  to  century, 
until  the  Kingdom  of  God  shall  fully  come. 

II.  The  second  period  of  special  interest  in  the  religious 
history  of  Chebacco  includes  the  division  of  the  church  near 
the  close  of  the  ministry  of  the  immediate  successor  of  Mr. 
Wise,  Rev.  Theophilus  Pickering,  and  the  formation  of  a  new 
one  in  1746,  with  the  settlement  of  its  minister,  Rev.  John 
Cleaveland  in  1747;  and  the  reunion  of  these  two  churches 
on  the  eve  of  the  Revolution,  through  the  influence  of  Mr. 
Cleaveland,  whose  pastorate  over  the  united  church  continued 
until  his  death  in  1799. 

To  see  clearly  why  and  how  this  new  church  came  into 
being,  we  need  to  set  before  us  the  religious  situation,  and  to 
glance  at  Mr.  Pickering's  life  and  character,  as  disclosed  chiefly 
through  traditions  and  manuscript-papers  in  possession  of 
members  of  the  Pickering  family  and  his  own  printed  letters. 

The  son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Burrill)  Pickering,  he  was  born 
Sept.  28,  1700,  in  the  house  owned  by  his  father,  which  was 
built  in  the  year  165  i  by  John  Pickering  from  England, —  the 
house  now  standing  on  Broad  St.,  Salem,  which  has  always 
been  in  the  possession  of  the  Pickering  family,  is  in  perfect 
preservation,  and  still  owned  by  members  of  the  same  family 
and  name. 


54  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

Theophilus  was  the  elder  of  two  sons ;  and  his  younger 
brother  Timothy,  was  the  father  of  Col.  Timothy  Pickering 
of  the  Revolution,  Secretary  of  War  and  afterwards  of  State 
in  Washington's  second  administration. 

John  Pickering,  their  father,  was  by  occupation  a  farmer. 
He  was  one  of  the  Selectmen  of  Salem,  and  a  Representative 
to  the  General  Court.  Dying  in  1722,  his  "decease"  is  re- 
corded in  Felt's  Annals  of  Salem,  as  a  "loss  to  the  com- 
munity." 

Theophilus  Pickering  was  educated  at  Harvard  College, 
graduating  therein  1719,  in  a  class  of  twenty-three  members, 
thirteen  of  whom  became  clergymen.  He  was  an  earnest 
student,  from  his  early  years.  In  the  first  years  of  his  college 
life  the  works  of  Derham  on  "Physico-Theology"  and  "Astro- 
Theology"  enlisted  his  strong  interest,  and  thoughout  his  col- 
lege course,  he  gave  much  care  and  thought  to  extracting  and 
transcribing,  from  these  and  other  works  in  his  "Extracta 
Notabilia,"  whatever  seemed  to  him  most  worthy  of  preserva- 
tion. A  duodecimo  manuscript  volume  of  two  hundred  pages, 
with  from  fifty  to  sixty  lines  on  a  page,  in  clear  and  minute 
handwriting,  and  with  diagrams,  also  drawn  by  him,  —  the 
whole  copied  from  works  that  were  published  during  his  col- 
lege life, —  is  still  preserved  in  the  family,  and  bears  witness  to 
his  patient  industry,  as  well  as  to  his  interest  in  the  subject. 

He  possessed  a  taste  also  for  the  classical  languages,  with  a 
familiarity  and  readiness  in  the  use  of  Latin,  and  skill  in  the 
use  of  language  in  general.  His  scholarly  tastes  are  well 
illustrated  by  the  fact  of  his  collecting  a  valuable  library, 
many  of  the  choicest  volumes  of  which  are  still  preserved.* 

After  graduation  Mr.  Pickering  taught  school  in  Bridge- 
water  for  a  year  and  a  half;  and  in  1721  he  preached  regu- 
larly for  some  months  in  that  town.  In  January,  1722,  a 
committee  of  the  General  Court  engaged  him  to  preach  as  a 
missionary  at  Tiverton  on  Narragansett  Bay,  and  he  was 
employed  in  that  work  for  nearly  a  year  and  a  half. 
*  See  Appendix  B. 


Tivo  IhuidvcdtJi  Anniversary.  5$ 

During  the  last  sickness  of  Rev.  Mr.  Wise,  in  April  1725, 
Mr.  Pickering  was  invited  by  this  parish  to  supply  the  pulpit 
four  Sabbaths  and  continued  preaching  here  through  the 
spring  and  summer.  Receiving  then  a  call  to  the  pastorate 
he'accepted  it  and  was  ordained  in  the  second  meeting-house, 
October  13,  1725.  The  next  year  he  built  the  house  now 
occupied  by  Mr.  Edwin  Hobbs  and  made  it  his  home  the 
rest  of  his  life,  boarding,  as  his  note-book  states,  in  the  family 
of  Capt.  Jonathan  Cogswell  from  March  31,  1725  to  June 
16,  1736  and  after  that  in  his  own  house.  He  was  never 
married. 

Mr.  Pickering  was  remarkable  for  his  physical  strength  and 
muscular  activity.  He  was  noted  also  for  his  mechanical 
genius.  As  a  skilful  artificer  in  wood  and  in  metal  at  the 
forge,  he  made  some  household  articles  for  his  own  use, 
which  have  descended  in  the  family.  And  the  combined 
study-table  and  desk  of  his  own  invention  and  make,  which 
served  for  his  sermon-writing  and  his  books  of  reference,  is 
still  in  use  in  the  house  in  which  he  was  born.  In  keeping 
his  financial  accounts  he  was  scrupulous  and  exact,  and  a  high 
sense  of  honor  guided  all  his  business  relations  with  others. 

For  about  seventeen  of  the  twenty-two  years  of  his  min- 
istry Mr.  Pickering  seems  to  have  given  entire  satisfaction  to 
his  people  and  to  have  been  influential  with  them.  In  1734 
the  parish  voted  that  "in  consideration  of  their  love  and  affec- 
tion to  the  Rev.  Theophilus  Pickering,  they  do  freely,  fully 
and  absolutely  convey  to  him  all  their  right,  title  and  interest 
in  the  land  enclosed  by  the  fence  around  his  house  and  the 
well  dug  by  him  on  the  southeasterly  side  of  the  road."  On 
account  of  the  depreciation  of  the  currency,  they  also  added 
at  this  time  fifty  pounds  to  his  salary  and  continued  to  increase 
it  from  time  to  time  for  the  same  reason,  until  it  amounted  to 
^^232  per  annum.  Of  his  faithfulness  and  earnestness  as  a 
minister  of  the  gospel  we  find  evidence  in  the  addition  to  the 
church  during  his  pastorate,  of  about  two  hundred  members. 


56  Congregational  CJinrch  and  Parish^  Essex. 

nearly  as  many  as  during  that  of  Mr.  Wise,  though  it  was 
only  half  as  long ;  and  in  the  occurrence  of  at  least  one  exten- 
sive revival  of  religion,  the  first  in  the  history  of  this  church, 
as  the  fruit  of  which  seventy-six  persons  made  a  profession 
of  religion. 

The  published  testimony  of  his  church  after  his  death,  re- 
specting him,  was:  "We  at  Chebacco  have  (as  we  verily  be- 
lieve) had  among  us  a  man  of  God,  a  learned,  orthodox, 
prudent  and  faithful  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  though  not 
without  failings,  even  as  others ;  one  whom  we  heard  teaching 
and  preaching  the  Gospel  with  pleasure,  and  we  hope  with 
profit;  and  whose  memory  will  we  trust  be  ever  dear  to  us." 

Of  the  preaching  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whitefield,  during  his 
first  tour  through  New  England,  in  1 740,  and  of  the  remark- 
able religious  revival  which  followed  it,  which  has  been 
usually  called  "The  Great  Awakening,"  Mr.  Pickering  was  no 
uninterested  observer. 

When  the  renowned  Evangelist,  on  this  excursion  eastward, 
on  which  he  set  out  from  Boston,  Sept.  29th  of  that  year, 
preached  at  Ipswich,  on  the  hill  in  front  of  the  first  Congre- 
gational meeting-house,  to  some  thousands,  Mr.  Pickering,  as 
he  tells  us  in  one  of  his  letters,  was  one  of  the  many  who 
went  up  from  Chebacco  and  listened  to  his  surpassing  elo- 
quence. This  was  the  occasion  of  which  Mr.  Whitefield 
wrote:  "The  Lord  gave  me  freedom,  and  there  was  a  great 
melting  in  the  Congregation."  On  his  return  from  the  east, 
he  also  preached  at  Ipswich,  Oct.  4th. 

Soon  after,  or  at  least  early  in  the  next  year,  the  religious 
interest  began  to  manifest  itself  in  this  community.  Of  a  full 
account  of  it  written  in  1747,  a  part  is  as  follows: 

In  the  year  1741  and  onwards  it  pleased  God,  out  of  his  rich,  free,  and 
sovereign  grace  to  bring  upon  the  minds  of  many  in  this  parish  a  deep 
concern  about  their  future  state  and  what  they  should  do  to  be  saved  ;  and 
although  something  of  this  concern  then  spread  itself  over  the  land  and 
in  some  places  was  very  remarkable,  we  believe  it  was  in  none  more  so  than 
in  this  place.     The  face  of  things  was  now  changed ;  and  engagedness  to 


Tivo  HundrcdtJL  Anniversary.  57 

hear  the  word  preached,  christian  conferences,  private  meetings  for  religious 
worship  and  assistance  to  each  other  in  the  way  of  life  were  what  the  minds 
of  many  appeared  to  be  deeply  concerned  in,  and  engrossed  much  of  our 
time.  And  we  have  undoubted  grounds  to  conclude  that  at  this  time  the 
free  grace  of  God  was  richly  displayed  in  the  saving  conversion  of  many 
among  us." 

With  the  progress  of  this  rehgious  work,  which  so  deeply 
stirred  the  people  of  New  England,  there  was  soon  developed 
among  the  churches  and  ministers  everywhere  a  widening  di- 
vergence of  views  with  respect  to  the  doctrinal  preaching  of 
the  professional  evangelists,  the  reality  of  certain  inward  ex- 
periences of  which  they  made  great  account,  the  measures  and 
methods  they  employed  and  the  propriety  of  the  degree  of 
independence  of  church  and  ministerial  authority  maintained 
by  them  and  their  adherents. 

The  author  of  the  work  entitled  TJie  Great  Azvakening, 
published  in  1842,  remarks: 

"The  whole  land,  between  1742  and  1745  was  full  of  angry  controversy. 
Pastors  were  divided  against  pastors,  churches  against  churches,  and  the 
members  of  the  same  church  against  each  other,  and  against  their  pastor. 
The  established  rules  of  ecclesiastical  order  were  set  at  defiance  and  openly 
trampled  upon  in  the  name  of  God.  Ignorant  and  headstrong  men  were 
roaming  at  large,  pretending  to  be  under  the  immediate  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  slandering  the  best  men  in  the  land,  and  multitudes  be- 
lieved them.  Religious  meetings  were  often  attended  with  disorder,  from 
which  the  most  reckless  '  new  measure  '  men  of  the  nineteenth  century 
would  shrink  back  in  absolute  dismay.  It  is  no  wonder  that  good,  judicious, 
sober  men  were  alarmed,  that  they  thought  the  conversion  of  some  hun- 
dreds or  thousands  had  been  purchased  at  too  dear  a  rate;  and  that  thev 
pronounced  the  revival  a  source  of  more  evil  than  good." 

So  much  this  author  concedes.  And  it  was  certainly  the 
fact  that  early  in  1743  there  had  come  to  be  a  division  of  the 
churches  and  ministers  of  our  order  into  two  great  parties, 
which  might  be  termed  the  right  and  left  centre  of  the  eccle- 
siatical  host,  the  rigJit  centre  believing  in  and  zealously  pro- 
moting the  revival,  acknowledging  the  existence  of  errors  and 
disorders  accompanying  it,  but  condemning  and  contending 


58  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

against  them  and  discerning  abounding  good  which  infinitely 
outweighed  the  attendant  evils,  —  their  extreme  right  wing, 
however,  consisting  of  fanatics,  rash  and  erratic  Separatists^ 
and  disorganizers  ;  the  left  centre  (including  some  most 
excellent  and  pious  clergymen),  recognizing  the  reality  of  the 
revival  and  some  good  in  it,  but  cautious  or  fearful  about  en- 
dorsing it  as  a  whole,  chiefly  impressed  by  the  errors,  the 
disorders,  the  irrational  excitements  and  the  fanaticism  accom- 
panying or  following  it, —  their  extreme  left  wing  composed 
of  formalists,  ultra-conservatives,  those  who  were  extremely 
high-church  as  regarded  ecclesiastical  authority,  and  ration- 
alists. 

While  Mr.  Pickering,  who  was  distinguished  for  the  mod- 
eration and  coolness  of  his  temper  and  the  steadiness  of  his 
conduct,  must  perhaps  be  located  in  the  left  centre,  he  was 
certainly  very  near  the  dividing  line.  His  piety  and  the 
evangelical  character  of  his  preaching  were  strongly  endorsed 
by  a  large  council  in  1746,  of  which  the  Rev.  Messrs.  White 
of  Gloucester  and  Wigglesworth  of  Hamilton  were  members, 
both  of  whom  signed  the  famous  Boston  Testimony  of  minis- 
ters, in  1743,  in  favor  of  the  revival.  Mr.  Pickering's  own 
language  also  furnishes  evidence  of  the  correctness  of  his 
views  on  certain  important  points.  In  one  of  his  letters  pub- 
lished in  1742,  he  says: 

*'  I  don't  ask  you  whether  the  conversion  of  a  sinner  be  the  work  of  God  ; 
this  is  undoubted.  Or,  whether  the  work  of  conversion  be  the  same  in  the 
nature  of  it  in  every  age ;  this  is  indisputable.  Or,  whether  conviction 
precedes  or  accompanies  conversion,  and  both  may  be  called  the  work  of 
God,  that  is,  of  his  grace;  this  is  admitted.  Or,  whether  the  work  of 
conviction  and  conversion  be  now  carried  on  in  the  land;   this  is  conceded." 

That  Mr.  Pickering  not  only  discerned  the  spiritual  reality 
of  the  revival,  but  also  felt  a  genuine  interest  in  it,  he  himself 
maintained  in  his  letters,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  his 
sincerity.     In  another  of  these  letters  in  1742  he  says  : 

"That  numbers  have  been  lately  awakened  to  a  careful  inquiry  into  their 
spiritual  state,  and  many  convinced  of  their  sin  and  danger  and  stirred  up 


Tivo  HnndrcdtJi  Anniversary.  59 

to  dutj,  in  a  deep  concern  for  their  eternal  salvation  is  what  I  am  so  far 
from  disbelieving,  that  I  am  free  to  acknowledge  it  to  the  glory  of  God ; 
and  the  rather  because  I  doubt  not  but  Divine  Providence  will  shortlj' 
make  it  manifest,  that  what  good  has  been  done  by  some  unprecedented 
measures  is  especially  owing  to  the  preventing  mercy  of  God,  in  counter- 
working the  devil  in  his  subtle  devices  to  undermine  the  churches  of 
Christ." 

Yet  the  errors  and  disorders  which  followed  in  the  wake  of 
the  revival  seemed  to  him  so  pernicious,  that  he  shrank  from 
actively  participating  in  it. 

One  of  the  prevalent  notions,  apparently  taught  and  culti- 
vated by  the  revivalists,  he  refers  to,  in  a  letter  of  the  same 
year,  as  : 

"  The  conceit  of  some  that  the  sudden  starts  of  their  fancy  are  immediate 
impressions  from  the  Holy  Spirit;  that  an  impatient  and  furious  desire  to 
bear  down  all  before  them  is  a  right  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God;  and  that 
they  alone  are  the  true  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ.  Doubtless  there  are  snares 
on  either  hand ;  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whitefield's  concessions  in  his  answer  to 
the  Bishop  of  London  are  matter  of  sober  reflection,  viz.,  that:  '  Luke- 
warmness  and  zeal  are  the  two  rocks  against  which  even  w^ell-meaning  peo- 
ple are  in  danger  of  splitting  —  the  bane  of  Christianity,  and  all  ought  to 
be  thankful  to  that  pilot  who  will  teach  them  to  steer  a  safe  and  middle 
course.'"  "But,"  Mr.  Pickering  adds,  "What  if  the  pilot  should  mistake 
the  vane  for  the  compass.^" 

To  Mr.  VVhitefield  he  wrote  in  1745  : 

"I  suppose  you  can't  be  ignorant  of  the  schisms,  variance,  emulations, 
strife,  railings  and  evil  surmisings,  things  very  difl'erent  from  the  fruits 
of  the  Spirit,  that  have  been  rife  among  us  more  than  four  years  ago.  It 
is  my  real  sentiment  according  to  the  best  judgment  I  can  form  that  you 
are,  at  least,  some  unhappy  occasion  of  our  troubles," 

In  his  own  study  of  the  measures  of  the  revivalists,  Mr. 
Pickering  had  observed  some  things,  which  he  thought  not 
scriptural  and  indicative  of  an  effort  to  secure  apparent  results 
by  an  artificial  excitement  of  natural  feeling. 

In  a  letter  to  Rev.  Mr.  Rogers  of  Ipswich,  of  Feb.  15,  1742, 
he  writes:  "You  believe  the  Holy  Spirit  has  of  late  remark- 
ably descended  upon  many  places.     Would  to  God  it  might 


6o  Congregational  CJmrcJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

be  according  to  your  belief.  But  I  am  somewhat  afraid  that 
you  have  too  great  a  dependence  upon  the  remarkable  effects 
or  occurrences  so  often  seen  in  your  night  meetings,  at  two  of 
which  I  was  present,  on  the   7th  and  8th  of  January  last." 

Another  thing  that  troubled  Mr.  Pickering  was  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  revivalists  to  cut  loose  from  the  teachings  and 
guidance  of  the  educated  ministry,  to  weaken  their  authority 
and  influence  and  to  break  down  the  regularly  constituted 
organizations  and  arrangements  for  the  maintenance  of  re- 
ligion. 

His  exhortation  in  still  another  letter  is : 

"I  desire  jou  to  be  careful  not  to  lead  men  into  such  a  notion  of  the  com- 
munity of-  ministers,  as  may  tempt  them  to  slight  the  authority  and  ad- 
ministrations of  their  own  pastors;  but  when  you  see  people  running  mad 
after  Paul  and  Apollos,  and  Cephas,  rather  say:  Are  yo.  not  carnal,?  More- 
over let  not  the  deceiver  beguile  you  into  a  belief  of  the  necessity  of  de- 
stroying the  form  of  religion  because  many  professors  may  seem  to  deny 
the  power.  And  I  beseech  you  be  cautious  that  while  you  endeavor  refor- 
mation, your  measures  may  not  be  subversive  of  our  religious  interests 
which  were  so  dear  to  our  forefathers.  And  therefore,  I  wish  you  to  be  of 
no  council  or  aid  to  any  party  that  may  plot  against  our  ministry,  churches 
and  colleges.  What  will  not  some  men  do?  T  pray  God  their  machinations 
may  be  short-lived,  and  removed  as  a  shepard's  tent." 

On  the  day  when  it  was  expected  that  a  minister  would  be 
ordained  over  the  Separatist  Society,  he  writes : 

"I  went  and  stood  before  the  chief  house  of  entertainment  where  were  many 
people  and  desiring  them  to  attend,  made  a  declaration  in  the  following 
words.  *****  'Therefore  I  solemnly  testify  that  such  a  procedure' 
(as  this  attempted  ordination)  'is  encouraging  of  unwarrantable  separations, 
a  disparaging  of  Ecclesiastical  councils,  a  breach  upon  the  fellowship  of 
the  churches,  destructive  of  their  peace  and  order,  and  highly  injurious  to 
the  second  church  in  Ipswich.'  I  then  drew  off  and  went  to  the  Meeting- 
house where  were  many  people  without  as  well  as  within,  and  asking  in 
those  that  were  abroad  I  performed  divine  service ;  and  at  the  close  of  the 
lecture  I  acquainted  the  assembly  with  the  contents  of  the  foregoing  de- 
claration, dismissed  the  people  and  went  home." 

Mr.  Pickering  was  also  sorely  tried  during  these  years 
(1742-45)  by  the  efforts  of  certain   ministers  and  exhorters 


Tzvo  HiindrcdtJi  Anniversary.  6 1 

to  preach  in  his  parish  without  his  invitation  or  consent,  and 
by  the  uncharitable  way  in  which  they  alluded  to  him  in 
their  prayers  and  their  preaching.  Against  this  treatment  he 
remonstrates  in  his  letters  to  the  Messrs.  Rogers  and  to  Mr. 
Davenport  (who  was  then  at  Ipswich)  and  in  one  of  a  little 
later  date  to  Mr.  Whitefield,  in  a  frank  and  decided  manner, 
yet  with  dignity  and  christian  courtesy. 
July  1 6,  he  writes: 

"Instead  of  giving  me  better  light  and  satisfaction  by  any  reply  to  my 
inquiry  (that  you  would  dissolve  my  doubts  as  to  certain  views  you  hold) 
you  and  your  brother  without  advising  with  me,  or  first  obtaining  my  con- 
sent, came  last  March  into  my  parish  and  held  several  meetings  in  the 
house  for  public  worship;  and  have  moreover  been  pleased  to  pray  for  me 
in  your  assemblies,  that  God  would  open  my  eyes  and  that  the  scales  might 
fall  from  them;  yea  one  of  you  thought  fit,  publicly,  in  the  hearing  of  my 
people,  to  call  me  their  blind  minister." 

This  attitude  of  Mr.  Pickering  towards  the  revival  move- 
ment and  the  measures  adopted  to  promote  it  and  the  char- 
acter of  his  preaching  occasioned,  on  the  part  of  those  among 
his  people  who  were  in  the  fullest  sympathy  with  the  work,  a 
growing  dissatisfaction  with  him  throughout  the  year  1743; 
which  led  them  finally  to  present  to  him,  March  12,  1744,  a 
statement  in  writing  of  certain  grievances  or  ''occasions  of 
disquietude"  (as  they  styled  them)  signed,  by  twenty-six  of 
the  sixty-three  members  of  his  church,  with  the  intimation 
that  they  should  withdraw  from  his  preaching,  unless  the 
causes  of  this  disquietude  were  removed. 

These  grievances  in  reality  charged  him  with  not  preaching 
plainly  the  distinctive  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  with  a  want  of 
interest  in  his  ministerial  work,  with  worldliness  of  spirit  and 
conduct  and  with  opposition  to  the  work  of  grace  going  on 
among  them. 

Mr.  Pickering's  indignation  at  these  charges,  as  well  as  his 
determination  to  prevent  as  far  as  possible  any  departure  from 
the  established  usages  of  the  church,  carried  him  to  an  ex- 
treme in  the  exercise  of  his  authority  as  church  moderator 


62  Congregational  CJinrcJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

towards  the  disaffected  brethren  and  in  his  personal  treat- 
ment of  them,  which  only  served  to  widen  the  breach  between 
him  and  them,  and  to  confirm  them  in  their  purpose  of  se- 
cession from  the  church. 

On  the  13th  of  January,  1746,  at  the  house  of  Daniel 
Giddinge,  sixteen  members  of  the  church  resolved  to  form  a 
society,  that  they  might  have  the  gospel  of  Christ  preached 
to  them;  on  the  15th  they  went  up  to  the  meeting-house 
where  there  was  then  a  church  meeting,  and  "declared  to  Mr. 
Pickering  and  the  church  publicly  that  they  had  separated 
themselves  from  them;"  and  on  the  20th  they  completed  the 
formation  of  a  "Separate  Society,"  thirty-eight  men  entering 
into  "a  solemn  covenant  and  league  to  set  up  the  worship  of 
God  agreeably  to  his  word  revealed  in  the  Scriptures."  Of 
this  body  Capt.  Robert  Choate  was  moderator  and  William 
Giddinge  clerk. 

Notwithstanding  this  decisive  action  the  church  called  a 
council  of  nine  churches.  May  20,  to  consider  the  whole  mat- 
ter; of  which  Rev.  John  White,  of  the  First  church,  Glouc- 
ester, a  son-in-law  of  Rev.  Mr.  Wise,  and  warmly  interested 
in  the  revival,  was  the  moderator. 

Although  the  disaffected  brethren  declined  the  proposal  of 
this  council  to  join  in  calling  a  mutual  council,  they  yet,  at 
its  invitation,  presented  all  their  articles  of  complaint  and 
the  evidence  to  sustain  them,  to  the  members  of  the  council 
as  private  christians. 

With  all  the  facts  thus  before  them  the  majority  of  the 
council  in  their  result,  June  lOth,  after  a  thorough  investiga- 
tion, judged  that  there  was  no  ground  for  the  charge  of  a 
want  of  interest  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Pickering  in  his  ministe- 
rial work,  or  of  a  neglect  of  pastoral  visits  ;  that  there  was 
no  reason  for  doubting  his  piety,  for  believing  that  he  had 
been  worldly  in  spirit,  or  had  conducted  improperly  in  busi- 
ness affairs  ;  and  they  endorsed  fully  the  evangelical  character 
of  his  preaching.      On  the  other  hand  they  were  of  the  opin- 


Tivo  HuiidrcdtJi  Anniversary.  63 

ion  that  he  had  been  negligent  about  examining  candidates 
for  admission  to  the  church  respecting  their  religious  experi- 
ences, that  he  had  failed  to  examine  early  and  thoroughly 
into  the  nature  of  the  religious  experiences  among  his  flock, 
as  he  ought  to  have  done ;  and  that  his  treatment  of  the 
aggrieved  at  first  had  given  them  just  ground  of  offence,  but 
that  he  had  offered  them  such  satisfaction  that  they  ought  to 
forgive  him.  The  council,  therefore,  regarded  the  withdrawal 
as  unjustifiable  and  reproachful  to  religion,  and  the  action  of 
the  disaffected,  in  setting  up  a  separate  assembly  for  worship, 
as  contrary  to  the  known  order  of  the  churches. 

A  minority  of  six  —  including  three  ministers  —  dissented, 
considering  that  the  disaffected  persons  had  real  grounds  of 
grievance  with  their  pastor,  which  still  remained,  and  that  the 
withdrawal  was  not  reproachful  to  religion  nor  deserving  of 
the  censure  of  the  church.  Yet  even  they  did  not  justify  the 
withdrawal  in  all  the  circumstances  of  it,  and  they  exhorted 
both  parties  to  put  away  what  had  been  "unchristian-like"  in 
spirit  and  behavior,  and  carefully  endeavor  a  reunion. 

Whether  this  protracted  struggle,  involving  the  alienation 
of  friends  and  causing  continual  anxiety,  disappointment 
and  depression  to  Mr.  Pickering  on  account  of  this  dismem- 
bering of  the  church  and  parish,  unfavorably  affected  his 
health  or  not,  we  do  not  know ;  but  in  a  little  more  than  a 
year,  after  a  very  short  sickness  he  died  of  a  fever,  Oct.  7, 
1747  —  closing  his  ministry  of  twenty-two  years  at  the  early 
age  of  forty-seven ;  and  his  remains  lie  in  the  old  grave  yard. 

In  the  Boston  Gazette  or  Weekly  Journal  of  Tuesday,  Nov. 
10,  1747,  appeared  the  following  notice: 

"Chebacco  in  Ipswich,  Oct.  11,  1747.  On  Monday  last  died  here  of  a 
fever  and  this  day  was  interred  the  Rev.  Theophilus  Pickering,  in  the 
forty-seventh  year  of  his  age ;  and  after  he  had  been  Pastor  of  the  Second 
Church  in  Ipswich  22  years.  He  had  been  as  generally  esteemed  and  loved 
by  his  people,  perhaps,  as  most  of  his  Order,  until  some  of  the  last  years 
of  his  life:  when  unhappy  Alienations  on  Account  of  his  Doctrine  and 
Conduct,  discovered  themselves  in  many  of  his  Flock,  who  brought  Accu- 


64  Congregational  Church   and  Parish,  Essex. 

sation  against  him  relating  hereto  before  the  Church  and  at  length  before 
a  Council  of  the  neighboring  Churches  Convened  for  that  Purpose,  who 
judged  the  Alienation  and  Disaffection  to  be  without  Sufficient  Ground. 
Under  the  pressure  of  so  great  Trouble,  as  he  was  Exercised  with,  he  was 
Observed  to  bear  up  with  Uncommon  Evenness  and  Patience  of  Mind,  and 
dv'd  at  last  in  a  desirable  Tranquility  of  Soul  as  to  Spirtual  Concerns; 
Preaching  the  Doctrines  of  Grace  by  a  free  Profession  that  he  was  a  sinful 
Creature,  who  had  nothing  of  his  own  to  recommend  him  to  God;  that 
his  alone  Expectation  was  from  the  imputed  Righteousness  of  the  Re- 
deemer, and  that  he  had  a  Comfortable  Hope  of  Acceptance  through  that 
Righteousness." 

The  church  nothing  daunted  by  his  loss,  loyal  to  his  mem- 
ory and  still  maintaining  the  justice  of  their  cause,  prepared 
and  adopted  Dec.  31,  1747,  and  published  early  the  next 
year:  "A  Letter  from  Second  church  in  Ipswich  to  their 
separated  brethren  in  defence  of  their  deceased  pastor  and 
themselves,  against  the  injurious  charges  of  the  said  separated 
brethren  in  a  late  print  of  theirs,  by  giving  a  more  just  and 
true  account  of  the  things  that  preceded  the  separation." 

Instead  also  of  entertaining  a  proposal  made  by  the  seced- 
ers,  Jan.  14,  1748,  for  a  conference  to  consider  the  possibility 
of  a  union  of  the  two  bodies,  they  immediately  declined  it, 
and  called  a  council  of  six  churches  from  Boston,  Cambridge 
Reading  and  Salem  to  pass  judgment  on  the  procedure  of 
the  withdrawing  members  ;  which  body  after  two  sessions  on 
the  19th  and  30th  of  July,  1748,  gave  decision  that  the  new 
Separate  organization  was  not  a  Congregational  church,  and 
exhorted  the  brethren  composing  it  to  be  reconciled  to  the 
church  they  had  left. 

On  the  3d  of  January,  1749,  Mr.  Nehemiah  Porter,  a  native 
of  Hamilton  and  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College  in  1745, 
who  had  already  supplied  the  pulpit  for  some  time,  was  or- 
dained the  third  pastor  of  the  old  church.  Of  his  ministry 
here  of  seventeen  years  very  little  is  known.  Near  its  close 
a  disagreement  arose  between  him  and  some  of  his  church  ; 
and  the  mutual  council,  called  to  consider  the  matter,  advised 
him  to    "take  blame  to  himself   and  to  give  the  aggrieved 


Two  Hundredth  Anniversary .  65 

brethren  such  satisfaction  as  they  had  a  right  to  demand." 
This  he  refused  to  do,  and,  as  a  majority  of  the  church  sus- 
tained him,  the  disaffected,  considering  that  there  had  been  a 
breach  of  the  covenant  on  the  part  of  said  majority  in  so 
doing,  withdrew  and  were  received  into  communion  with 
the  new  church. 

A  difficulty  afterwards  respecting  his  salary  occasioned 
other  councils  and  finally  the  dissolving  of  the  relation  be- 
tween him  and  his  church  and  parish,  by  a  decision  of  referees, 
in  June  1766. 

Mr.  Porter  removed  to  Yarmouth,  Nova  Scotia,  where  there 
was  a  Chebacco  colony;  and,  after  founding  a  Congregational 
church  there  and  preaching  to  it  several  years,  returned  to 
his  native  state  and  was  the  pastor  of  a  church  in  Ashfield, 
Franklin  Co.,  from  Dec.  2 1 ,  1 774  until  his  death  Feb.  29,  1 820, 
when  he  lacked  but  a  month  of  a  hundred  years  in  age.  His 
active  service  in  the  ministry  did  not  end  until  he  was  in  his 
eicrhty-eight  year,  and  he  continued  to  preach  occasionally 
for  a  long  time  afterward,  sometimes  exhorting  and  praying 
in  public  up  to  the  last  year  of  his  life. 

The  testimony  of  one  of  his  contemporaries  was,  that  ''as 
a  preacher  he  sustained  a  very  respectable  character;  if  not 
a  star  of  the  first  magnitude,  yet  shining  with  a  clearness  and 
decree  of  lustre,  which  rendered  him  an  ornament  to  the 
church.  The  doctrines  he  firmly  believed  were  such  as  are 
emphatically  called  the  doctrines  of  grace ;  and  these  he  in- 
culcated in  all  his  sermons,  which  were  instructive,  impressive 
and  delivered  with  force  and  fervor."  His  ministerial  labors 
were  attended  with  success  in  large  additions  to  his  church. 
One  or  two  anecdotes  told  of  him  may  help  to  illustrate  his 
character.  He  was  a  chaplain  in  the  American  army,  at  the 
surrender  of  Burgoyne,  and  used  to  say  with  a  great  deal  of 
animation,  "I  conquered  him.  The  decisive  blow  was  struck, 
and  the  battle  decided  while  I  was  holding  a  season  of  special 
prayer,  in  a  retired  place,  with  a  few  pious   soldiers."     Mr. 


66  Congregational  ChnrcJi  and  ParisJi,  Essex. 

Porter  had  great  firmness  and  decision  of  character.  Once, 
when  preaching  on  poHtics,  a  gentleman  of  the  opposite 
party  arose  in  his  pew  and  said,  "Mr.  Porter,  you  had  better 
let  that  subject  alone."  Upon  which,  with  a  stamp  of  the 
foot  and  great  energy,  he  exclaimed,  "Silence!"  and  pro- 
ceeded with  his  discourse. 

On  his  grave  stone,  near  the  Congregational  church  in 
Ashfield,  is  the  following  epitaph:  "Mr.  Porter  was  a  faithful 
minister  of  Christ:  with  long  life  he  was  satisfied:  he  fell 
asleep  in  Jesus  in  hope  of  a  joyful  resurrection  and  a  blessed 
immortality.  'The  righteous  shall  be  in  everlasting  remem- 
brance.'" 

THE   NEW    CHURCH    AND    ITS    FOUNDERS. 

Turning  now  from  the  fortunes  of  the  old  church,  to  the 
branch,  which  had  been  sundered  from  it,  had  taken  root  so 
vigorously  and  become  so  thrifty,  we  find  that  the  seceders 
—  nine  men  and  thirty-two  women — were,  by  a  council  of  two 
Separatist  churches,  from  Boston  and  Plainfield,  Conn.,  justi- 
fied in  the  course  they  had  taken,  aided  in  preparing  articles 
of  faith  and  discipline  and  a  covenant  and  organized  as  the 
fourth  church  in  Ipswich,  (that  at  Hamilton  being  the  third), 
on  the  twenty-second  of  May  1746;  and  that  on  the  seven- 
teenth of  December,  this  church  elected  Francis  Choate  and 
Daniel  Giddinge,  ruling  Elders,  and  Eleazar  Craft  and  Solo- 
mon Giddinge,  deacons.* 

Its  members  and  all  who  w^orshipped  with  them  were,  by 
law,  obliged  to  pay  a  property  tax  to  the  old  parish,  (as  that 
was  a  territorial  organization),  and  therefore  to  carry  a  double 
financial  burden  ;  until,  after  six  years  of  opposition  to  their 

*The  ruling  Elders  were  officers  provided  for  in  the  "Cambridge  Plat- 
form," who,  (with  the  pastor)  should  constitute  a  sort  of  "session,"  to  do 
the  business  of  the  church  and  to  carry  out  its  direction.  "This  office 
never  had  the  unanimous  sanction  of  the  churches  and  had  become  nearly 
obsolete  before  1683."  It  was  now,  however,  first  established  in  this  church 
but  dropped  out  of  use  in  less  than  fifty  years. 


Two  HnndrcdtJi  Anniversary.  6^ 

application  to  the  General  Court,  the  petitioners,  fifty-seven 
in  number,  obtained  an  act  of  incorporation,  Dec,  8,  1752, 
and  with  their  famihes  and  estates  were  made  a  distinct  and 
separate  precinct;  and  their,  house  of  worship  —  the  third 
in  Chebacco  —  was  erected  the  same  year. 

Remembering  that  this  also  was  entirely  a  laymen's  move- 
ment to  secure  a  more  evangelical  faith,  a  more  vigorous 
spiritual  life  in  the  church  and  greater  freedom  in  religious 
matters,  whom  do  we  find  to  be  the  leaders  and  energetic 
workers  in  it? 

Of  the  n^w  parish  Joseph  Perkins  was  one  of  the  founders 
and  prominent  members,  its  clerk  from  the  beginning  for  over 
twenty  years  and  its  treasurer  for  nearly  the  same  length  of 
time.  For  a  long  period  he  kept  a  tavern  nearly  opposite 
the  church  and  died  April  4,  1805,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five. 
Among  others  who  were  the  moving  spirits  in  this  Separa- 
tist Religious  Society,  the  office-bearers  in  the  new  church, 
not  only  by  virtue  of  their  position,  but  because  they  were 
actually  foremost  in  its  history  for  many  years,  its  chief  direc- 
tors and  upholders,  are  brought  conspicuously  before  us,  at 
the  opening  of  its  career. 

One  of  them  was  Elder  Francis  Choate,  a  son  of  "Governor" 
Thomas  Choate  whose  abilities  and  force  of  character  had 
made  him  a  leader  in  the  affairs  of  the  community  and  effi- 
cient in  his  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  church  in  Mr. 
Wise's  day  and  later  and  who  lived  to  witness  the  scenes  of 
the  great  revival,  dying  in  1/45' ^t  the  age  of  seventy-four. 
Francis,  born  Sept.  13,  1701,  was  bred  under  Mr.  Wise's 
preaching  was  a  young  man  of  twenty-four  when  Mr.  Picker- 
ing began  his  ministry,  was  converted  in  the  revival  of  1727, 
and  from  that  time  onward  was  known  as  a  man  of  firm 
principle,  familiar  with  religious  doctrines  and  of  uncommon 
depth  and  fervor  of  piety.  He  was  most  heartily,  in  sympathy 
with  the  wide  spread  and  intense  religious  interest  which 
Whitefield's  preaching  awakened  and  of  which  he  gives  an 


68  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

account  in  his  journal.  In  the  secession  from  the  old  church 
he  was  one  of  the  chief  actors  and  unsparingly  devoted  all 
his  intellectual  strength  and  energy  to  the  promotion  of  the 
welfare  and  growth  of  the  new  one.  The  council  which  con- 
stituted that  church  met  at  his  house,  (now  Mr.  Lamont 
Burnham's,  occupied  by  Mr.  Frank  Andrews)  ;  he  was  its  first 
moderator ;  and  on  his  grounds  took  place  the  ordination  of 
its  first  minister,  whose  right-hand  man  and  warm  personal 
friend  he  was  ever  after. 

For  thirty  years  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  almost  con- 
stantly employed  in  law  business  and  in  civil  affairs  as  a  town 
officer,  acute  and  skilful  in  debate,  Esq.  Choate  became  the 
strong  staff  of  the  young  church  whose  cause  he  espoused 
in  the  maturity  of  his  manhood  and  retained  the  fervor  of 
his  attachment  to  it  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

Another  of  these  "New  Lights"  of  Chebacco  was  Dea. 
Eleazer  Craft,  a  son  of  Benjamin  and  Abigail  (Harris)  Craft, 
born  in  Roxbury,  May  5,  171 1.  Through  the  influence  of 
his  brother  Benjamin,  who  was  also  one  of  the  Separatists, 
and  was  a  Louisbourg  soldier,  Eleazar  came  to  Chebacco,  and 
married  Aug.  25,  1738,  Martha  Low,  who  died  Sept.  28,  1797, 
aged  eighty-three.  Dea.  Craft  was  a  farmer  and  lived  not 
far  from  the  corner  of  the  old  and  new  roads  to  Manchester. 
In  the  preparation,  Sept.  15,  1747^  o^  the  "Plain  Narrative 
of  the  proceedings,  which  caused  a  separation  of  a  number 
of  aggrieved  brethren  from  the  second  church  in  Ipswich,"  he 
took  an  active  part.  Elected  deacon  at  the  formation  of  the 
church,  he  was,  from  Nov.  20,  1765,  until  his  death,  May  28, 
1790,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight,  a  Ruling  Elder  and  was 
the  last  one  who  held  that  office.  A  faithful  church  officer 
for  forty-four  years,  he  was  very  highly  esteemed  for  his  ar- 
dent piety  and  uniform  christian  deportment. 

Still  a  fourth  leader  of  the  Separatists  was  Ensign  James 
Eveleth,  whose  father  Joseph  moved  to  Chebacco  in  1674 
and  was  remarkable    for  his  piety  as  well  as  for  the    great 


Tivo  Hundredth  Anniversary.  69 

age  to  which  he  attained.  His  is  the  first  name  on  the  record 
of  those  who  joined  the  Chebacco  church  after  its  organization 
in  1683.  In  a  deed  distributing  some  of  his  property  by  gift 
among  members  of  his  family,  in  17 19,  the  year  after  the 
building  of  the  second  meeting-house,  he  directs  his  children 
"to  pay  to  ye  church  of  Christ  in  Chebacco  forty  shillings, 
to  be  laid  out  and  improved  towards  ye  buying  a  piece  of  plate 
for  ye  use  of  said  church." 

A  great  granddaughter,  (who  was  fifteen  years  old  at  his 
death),  used  to  describe  in  her  old  age  the  visit  made  to  him 
by  Rev.  Mr.  Whitefield  in  1740,  her  mind  always  retaining, 
as  she  said,  a  "vivid  impression  of  the  solemnity  of  the  scene 
presented  when  Whitefield  knelt  upon  the  floor  and  received, 
from  the  lips  that  could  relate  a  christian  experience  of  nearly 
a  hundred  years,  a  truly  patriarchal  blessing."  Living  to 
witness  the  scenes  of  the  great  awakening,  he  died  Dec.  i, 
1745,  at  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  five  years. 

His  oldest  son,  John,  was  the  first  Chebacco  boy  to  receive 
a  liberal  education.  A  graduate  of  Harvard  in  1689,  he 
preached  at  Enfield  and  at  Manchester  for  a  short  time,  at 
Stowe,  seventeen  years,  then  at  Kennebunkport  and  Bidde- 
ford  Me.,  until  1729,  and  died  at  Kittery,  Me.,  Aug.  i,  1734. 

James,  the  youngest  son  of  Joseph,  received  from  his 
father  in  171 5  a  deed  of  lands  in  Chebacco,  the  consideration 
being  "that  naturall  law  and  parentall  afi'ection  which  I  have 
and  do  bare  unto  my  loveing  son  James  Eveleth,  of  said 
Chebacco  in  Ipswich,  as  also  for  his  dutifull  carriage  towards 
me,  and  his  faithfull  serving  of  me." 

This  son,  Ensign  James,  was  not  only  one  of  the  twenty- 
six,  who  in  1744  presented  to  Mr.  Pickering  their  "causes  of 
disquietude,"  but  was  also  one  of  the  four  who  had  come  so 
directly  into  antagonism  with  the  minister,  as  to  feel  obliged 
to  send  him,  April  29,  their  statement  of  "additional  griev- 
ances." He  was  also  one  of  the  nineteen  who  signed  the 
''Plain  Narrative"  and  was  appointed  one  of  a  committee  of 


70  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

two,  to  tender  an  invitation,  Jan.  27,  1746,  to  Rev.  John 
Cleaveland,  then  of  Boston,  to  visit  Chebacco  and  preach 
there.  Mr.  Eveleth  was  a  farmer  and  lived  at  the  Falls,  where 
Mr.  Luther  Burnham's  house  now  stands.  Through  his  only 
son,  James,  descended  Aaron  Eveleth,  a  soldier  in  the  Revo- 
lution, among  whose  children  was  the  late  Capt.  Jonathan 
Eveleth. 

That  Elder  Daniel  Giddinge  (a  town-representative  in 
1758,  who  died  Oct.  25,  1771,  aged  sixty-seven),  was  an  effi- 
cient co-worker  with  Messrs.  Perkins,  Choate,  Craft  and 
Eveleth,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe.  The  first  meeting 
to  form  the  Separate  Society  was  held  at  his  house.  And  his 
vigilance  and  promptness  to  act  for  its  interests,  as  well  his 
ability  to  wield  the  pen  with  some  pertinence  and  force,  come 
out  clearly  in  a  brief  document  printed  by  him  in  Boston, 
Feb.  12,  1748,  the  opening  of  which  explains  the  occasion 
and  intent  of  it  and  is  as  follows  : 

"Whereas,  the  subscriber,  one  of  the  brethren  that  left  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Pickering's  church,  being  in  Boston  and  perceiving  that  the  'Answer  to 
the  aggrieved  brethren's  Plain  Narrative'  is  dispersed  among  the  members 
of  the  General  Assembly  now  sitting,  containing  among  a  number  of 
groundless  insinuations,  a  few  things  objected  to  some  of  the  facts  in  said 
Narrative,  tending  to  discredit  the  same  and  bring  an  odium  on  the  nar- 
rators, dispersed  as  I  suppose  to  prejudice  the  said  Honorable  Court  against 
us  at  this  time  :  To  prevent  this,  I  will  say,  as  what  I  am  ready  to  verify 
and  make  good,  as  follows  :" 

Then  he  proceeds  to  give  what  he  calls  a  "brief  statement 
in  eight  particulars  ;"  which  is  clear,  concise  and  to  the  point. 

Further  light  is  thrown  upon  the  intellectual  and  religious 
character  of  these  office-bearers  and  their  associates,  by  two 
things  which  accompanied  the  organization  of  this  new  church 
and  the  settlement  of  its  first  minister. 

The  first  was  the  preparation  and  adoption  of  an  elaborate 
code  of  eighteen  articles  of  faith  and  discipline.*      How  much 

*  See  Appendix  C. 


Tzvo  HnndredtJi  Aimivcrsaiy.  71 

their  past  ecclesiastical  experiences  had  to  do  with  suggesting 
the  necessity  of  these  articles  and  with  putting  them  into  the 
shape  they  assumed,  may  be  inferred  from  the  few  paragraphs 
I  will  read  from  them. 

"  ist.  That  we  will  have  such  officers  as  Christ  Jesus  has  appointed  and 
ordained  in  his  holy  Word,  viz  :  a  Pastor  or  Pastors,  Ruling  Elders  and 
Deacons. 

2d.  That  no  person  shall  be  admitted  to  either  of  said  offices,  unless 
he  has  Scripture  qualifications  evidently  appearing  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  church. 

3d.  That  the  Church  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  electing  and  appoint- 
ing all  the  officers  of  the  Church. 

5th.  That  no  person  shall  be  admitted  as  a  member  of  our  Church,  but 
such  as  shall  give  a  particular  account  of  a  saving  work  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  upon  his  or  her  soul,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Church. 

7th.  That  we  will  not  admit  of  any  person  to  minister  to  us  in  holy  things, 
who  shall  refuse  to  submit  to  an  examination  of  the  state  of  his  soul  by 
such  a  number  of  the  brethren  as  the  Church  from  time  to  time  shall  think 
fit  to  appoint;  and  shall  give  to  them  a  satisfactory  account  of  a  work  of 
grace  wro't  upon  his  soul ;  who  shall  also  sign  these  articles  before  he  shall 
be  ordained  to  the  Pastoral  care  of  this  Church. 

13th.  That  neither  Pastor  nor  Elders  shall  invite  any  person  to  preach, 
until  they  are  satisfyed  that  he  has  a  work  of  grace  wro't  on  his  soul. 

14th.  We  believe  that  all  the  gifts  and  graces  that  are  bestowed  on  any 
of  the  members  are  to  be  improved  for  the  good  of  the  whole;  in  order  to 
which  there  ought  to  be  such  a  gospel  freedom,  whereby  the  Church  may 
know  where  every  particular  gift  is.  that  it  may  be  improved  in  its  proper 
place,  and  to  its  right  end,  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  for  the  good  of  the 
Church. 

15th.  The  confession  of  faith  agreed  upon  by  the  Assembly  of  Divines 
at  Westminster  we  fully  agree  to  in  every  respect,  as  to  the  substance  of 
the  same. 

i6th.  We  would  always  have  recourse  to  the  Platform  agreed  upon  bv 
the  Synod  at  Cambridge  in  New  England,  A.D.  1648;  and  for  the  further 
explanation  of  our  own  sentiments  respecting  church  discipline,  etc.,  we 
will  always  be  willing  to  be  guided  thereby  with  the  following  exceptions 
and  emendations  : — 

Chaj).  10,  Sectioti  6.  Respecting  the  Direction  of  a  Council  being  nec- 
essar}'  in  order  for  a  Church  to  remove  their  Pastor  we  do  except  against. 
Sec.  8.  We  judge  the  Elders  ought  to  call  the  Church  together  when  de- 
sired by  any  one  member;  and  whenever  the  Church  is  mett,  the  brethren 
have  a  right,  one  by  one,  (asking  leave)  to  declare  their  mind  without  in- 
terruption or  hindrance,  and  that  the  Elders  have  no  power  to  adjourn  or 
dissolve  meetings  without  a  vote  of  the  Church. 


J2  Congregational  CJuircJi   and  Parish,   Essex. 

Chap.  13,  Sec.^.  Respecting  magistrates  having  a  power  to  force  people 
to  contribute  for  the  support  of  the  gospel,  we  except  against,  being  not 
intrusted  with  the  support  of  the  same ;  that  the  Church  have  power  to 
deal  with  all  such  as  will  not,  if  able,  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  gospel, 
we  hold,  and  also  that  bv  the  Holj  Scriptures  Gifts  may  be  received,  but 
not  forced  from  any  without. 

Chap.  17,  Sec.  9.  Respecting  the  magistrates  having  a  coercial  power,  or 
right  to  punish  a  church  that  rends  itself  off  from  the  churches,  being  by 
them  judged  incorrigible  and  schismatick,  we  except  against. 

i8th.  Lastly,  That  if  notwithstanding  our  great  care  in  the  admition  of 
a  Pastor  or  Pastors,  or  other  officers,  any  or  either  of  them  should  deny  or 
walk  contrary  to  these  Doctrines,  and  persist  therein,  then  in  such  a  case 
said  person  or  persons  shall  no  longer  have  any  power  or  authority  in  the 
Church,  but  shall  be,  and  hereby  are,  debarred  therefrom,  until  manifest 
tokens  of  their  Humiliation  and  Repentance." 

If  these  articles  are  not  Calvinistic,  Low-church,  Indepen- 
dent, Democratic,  then  to  what  could  you  apply  these  epi- 
thets? There  is  certainly  no  room  in  them  for  clerical  authority, 
or  a  dead  formalism  to  lurk  ;  nor  could  one  charge  this  church 
with  any  lack  of  self-control.  These  sentences  recall  and 
illustrate  Mr.  Wise's  declaration  that  "democracy  is  Christ's 
government  in  church  and  state." 

The  other  thing  particularly  noticeable  is  the  cool,  business- 
like way  in  which  these  laymen  proceeded  to  execute  the 
provisions  of  these  articles  in  their  selection  of  a  minister 
and  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  theological  and  spiritual  quali- 
fications of  a  candidate  for  the  pastoral  office  before  giving 
him  a  call  to  settle  with  them.     Their  record  reads  as  follows  : 

"Dec.  17,  1746.  At  a  meeting  of  the  newly-gathered  Congregational 
Church  of  Christ  in  Chebacco.  upon  adjournment,  it  was  voted  :  That 
John  Cleaveland  he  desired  to  declare  his  principles,  which  he  did  as 
follows  :" 

Then  is  given  what  is  entitled  "The  Principles  and  Fun- 
damentals of  Mr.  John  Cleaveland's  Faith,"  in  twenty  articles, 
an  elaborate  and  minute  creed,  essentially  that  of  the  West- 
minster Assembly  of  Divines,  but  wrought  into  shape  by  his 
own  thought  and  expressed,  in  the  main,  in  his  own  language, 
and  closing  with  these  words  : 


Tzvo  Hiuidrcdth  Anniversary.  73 

"  These  articles  1  profess  to  believe,  not  only  speculativelj  and  scientifi- 
cally, but  also  heartily  and  practically  through  rich  grace  and  boundless 
and  matchless  love  in  the  dear  Redeemer."     "John  Cleaveland."* 

The  Record  continues : 

"These  foregoing  principles  had  a  good  and  unanimous  acceptance  by 
the  Church.  And  it  was  unanimously  voted  :  That  Mr.  John  Cleaveland 
should  be  pastor  of  this  church ;  That  our  choice  of  Mr.  John  Cleaveland 
for  pastor  be  laid  before  the  society  for  their  concurrence;  That  a  commit- 
tee be  chosen  to  give  the  said  Mr.  Cleaveland  a  call  to  the  pastoral  office." 

Where  could  you  find  a  company  of  men  more  competent 
to  manage  their  ecclesiastical  affairs  than  that  one?  Surely 
there  was  no  need  in  Chebacco,  an  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
years  ago,  of  a  Presbytery  or  a  Bishop  to  tell  these  intelligent, 
reflecting  Bible-students,  spiritually  enlightened,  what  to 
believe,  or  who  was  a  suitable  religious  teacher  and  guide  for 
them.  These  godly,  liberty-loving  but  self-controlled,  Prot- 
estant, Americanized  Englishmen  of  the  fourth  generation, 
had  not  let  go  their  English  Bible  as  the  Inspired  Word,  nor 
sold  their  God-given  birthright  for  any  mess  of  pottage, 
whether  prelatical  or  presbyterial  on  the  one  hand,  or  ration- 
alistic or  "theistic"   on  the  other. 

In  these  Christian  laymen  is  brilliantly  displayed  the 
sturdy  Puritan  character  of  the  seventeenth  century  ennobled 
by  the  "Great  Awakening"  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

REV.   JOHN    CLEAVELAND. 

But  who  was  this  John  Cleaveland  and  what  were  his  ante- 
cedents that  he  should  so  exactly  suit  this  new  Chebacco 
Church?  His  great  grandfather,  Moses  Cleaveland  was  a  first 
settler  in  this  country,  from  that  same  old  Ipswich,  England, 
from  which  had  come  some  of  the  founders  of  oitr  Ipswich. 
His  grandfather,  Josiah  Cleaveland,  removed  from  Chelms- 
ford, Mass.,  to  the  fertile  meadows  of  the  Quinebaug  in  Can- 


*  See  Appendix  D. 
10 


74  Congregational  Church   and  Parish,  Essex. 

terbury,  the  central  southern  town  of  Windham  County,  in 
the  northeast  corner  of  Connecticut,  in  1693,  being  one  of  its 
original  settlers.  His  father  Josiah  Cleavelandwas  one  of  the 
most  influential  men  in  his  day  in  all  town  matters  there. 
Throughout  his  life  a  pillar  in  the  Congregational  church, 
he  left  it,  at  his  death,  in  1751,  his  part  of  the  ownership  of 
the  meeting-house  and  i^200  in  money. 

Very  early  in  the  history  of  the  Great  Awakening,  a  deep 
religious  thoughtfulness  spread  through  Canterbury.  "Many 
leading  members  of  the  church  and  among  them  Josiah 
Cleaveland  were  aroused  to  new  interest,  and  became  active 
in  promoting  the  work."  Among  the  children  and  youth, 
hopefully  converted,  was  his  son  John,  the  seventh  of  eleven 
children,  born  April  11,  1722,  who  united  with  the  church 
in  1740. 

From  a  fragment  of  an  autobiography  and  diary,  we  learn 
that  John's  early  life  was  spent  upon  the  farm,  with  the  three 
winter  months  at  school,  and  amid  the  influences  of  a  christian 
home.  An  injury  caused  by  an  ambitious  attempt  to  outstrip 
others  in  stone-wall  building  disabled  him  for  severe  physical 
labor  and,  beginning  preparation  for  College  in  September, 
1739,  he  entered  Yale  in  1 741,  in  a  class  which  graduated 
twenty-seven  members. 

Of  his  College  course  he  writes : 

"I  took  special  delight  in  the  study  of  the  Greek  Testament,  Logic,  Nat- 
ural Philosophy  and  History.  But  in  the  midst  of  all  these  studies  I  found 
the  Gospel  to  be  that  which  my  soul  was  then  most  captivated  with,  not 
merely  the  doctrinal  part,  which  however  was  divinely  sweet,  but  the  practi- 
cal and  vital  part,  it  being  the  time  of  my  first  love,  when  the  candle  of 
the  Lord  shined  with  divine  lustre  and  efficacious  splendor  on  my  soul." 

During  the  first  winter  in  College  he  hears  "heavenly  news 
from  Canterbury;"  his  brother  Ebenezer  and  his  sisters  are 
converted  ;  his  father's  house  has  become  a  little  Bethel.  His 
journal  in  the  spring  vacation  gives  a  glimpse  of  the  progress 
of  the  revival  in  his  native  place  and  indicates  great  religious 
interest  and  activity  there. 

4) 


•    Tzvo  HiindrcdtJi  Anniversary.  75 

Just  at  that  time,  however,  (May,  1742)  the  government 
of  Connecticut,  acting  on  the  opinion  of  the  General  Con- 
sociation of  churches  that  "the  growing  extravagances  and 
excesses  accompanying  the  religious  excitement  throughout 
the  state  were  to  be  attributed  to  the  intrusion  of  unauthorized 
itinerants  and  the  holding  of  free  religious  conferences," 
passed  an  act  to  correct  and  prevent  these  evils  by  forbidding 
the  preaching  of  evangelists  and  exhorters  and  the  speaking 
in  meeting  by  laymen,  without  permission  from  constituted 
authority.  This  extraordinary  law,  of  course,  excited  great 
opposition  and  only  aggravated  the  disorders  it  was  intended 
to  cure,  and  not  more  in  other  places  than  in  Canterbury 
where  in  1744  the  religious  disturbances  had  greatly  increased. 

The  parish  (and  a  minority  of  the  church)  had  determined 
to  settle  a  minister  to  whom  a  large  majority  of  the  church — 
earnest  supporters  of  the  revival  movement — were  opposed. 
The  latter  had  therefore  withdrawn  from  the  meeting-house, 
and  were  holding  religious  services  in  private  houses,  con- 
ducted by  laymen.  John  Cleaveland  and  his  brother  Ebene- 
zer,  in  the  summer  vacation  of  that  year,  being  members  of 
the  church,  of  course  attended  with  them. 

The  church  and  state  authorities  took  the  ground  that  every 
church  in  the  state  was  subject  to  the  "Saybrook  Platform," 
except  by  formal  dissent  at  the  time  of  its  organization,  and 
that  no  subsequent  vote  by  any  number  of  its  members  could 
change  its  status  ;  that  the  minority  at  Canterbury  were  there- 
fore the  church  ;  and  that  the  majority  by  declaring  themselves 
Congregational  according  to  the  Cambridge  platform,  (as  they 
had  done  in  1743,  after  carefully  investigating  the  origin  and 
history  of  their  church,  through  a  committee),  had  forfeited 
their  ecclesiastical  standing  and  legal  privileges  and  were  a 
body  of  "Separatists"  whose  meetings  were  unlawful. 

On  the  return  of  the  Cleavelands  to  College,  in  November, 
they  were  summoned  before  President  Clap,  on  the  charge  of 
violating  a  law  of  the  College  which  also  forbade  attendance 


'j^  Congregational  CJinrcJi  and  ParisJi,  Essex. 

on  **  Separate"  meetings.  They  argued  their  case  with  force  ; 
but  although  they  pleaded  for  delay,  a  bill  was  immediately 
issued  against  them,  suspending  them  from  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  College,  for  violating  the  law  of  God,  the 
Colony  and  the  College,  until  satisfaction  should  be  made  in 
the  form  of  a  public  confession  to  this  effect.  This  they 
could  not,  in  conscience,  do.  They  sent  to  the  Faculty  a 
very  respectful  and  humble  petition  to  be  restored  to  college 
standing,  but  instead  of  accepting  it,  the  government  of  the 
College  administered  a  formal  admonition,  Nov.  19.*  Their 
collision  with  the  authorities  was  very  widely  published  and 
excited  great  sympathy.  Their  mother  and  other  friends  sent 
them  letters,  entreating  them  to  be  true  to  their  own  convictions, 
and  not  to  deny  their  church  and  wrong  God  and  their  own 
consciences  by  making  a  false  confession.  As  they  did  thus 
hold  fast  to  the  position  they  had  taken,  President  Clap  sum- 
moned them  to  the  Hall,  sometime  in  the  month  of  December 
and  announced  the  formal  sentence  of  expulsion. 

The  next  May  the  brothers  sent  in  a  memorial  to  the  Leg- 
islature of  the  state,  praying  for  a  redress  of  their  grievances 
and  to  be  immediately  restored  to  their  standing  in  College. 

"In  a  well  written  document  they  recite  the  reasons  for  their  father's 
separating,  with  a  majority  of  the  church  members,  from  the  religious 
society  in  Canterbury;  and  complain  that  they  have  been  punished  for  that 
which  was  not  against  College  law.  They  say  near  the  close  of  their  peti- 
tion, and  with  reason,  as  people  now  think  :  '  May  it  please  your  Honors, 
as  we  understand  the  laws  of  this  colony,  the  Congregational  persuation 
is  as  much  under  the  countenance  of  the  laws  of  this  colony  as  the  Say- 
brook  Platformists  are ;  and  therefore  we  think  it  hard  measure  indeed  to 
be  cut  oft'  from  our  College  privileges,  merely  for  being  of  the  Congrega- 
tional persuation,  and  acting  agreeable  thereto,  while  the  Saybrook  Plat- 
formists, professors  of  the  Church  of  England,  Seven-day  and  other 
Baptists  and  Qiiakers  have  and  have  had  free  liberty  to  enjoy  all  the  privi- 
leges of  College,  their  principles  and  practices  in  the  vacancies  of  College 
agreeable  thereto  notwithstanding.'"! 

* 


■'See  Appendix  E. 

fPres.  Woolsey's  Historical  Address, 


Tzvo  Hundredth  Anniversary.  yj 

Their  petition,  however,  was  dismissed  without  action  of 
either  house. 

At  a  later  day,  as  Mr.  Cleaveland  himself  writes  :  ''Through 
the  application  to  the  College  Corporation  of  a  number  of  min- 
isters in  the  neighborhood  of  Chebacco,  accompanied  with 
reflections  made  by  me  to  the  Reverend  President,  which  <vere 
'satisfactory',  a  diploma  of  A.M.,  and  my  standing  in  my  class, 
(that  of  1745),  were  granted  me  in  1763.  The  honorary 
degree  of  A.M.  was  also  conferred  upon  him  in  1782  by  Dart- 
mouth College. 

For  several  months  of  the  year  1745  Mr.  Cleaveland  studied 
theology  with  Rev.  Philemon  Robbins  of  Branford,  Conn.,  an 
able  and  popular  preacher  and  a  warm  advocate  of  the  revival 
measures.  In  August  he  began  preaching  in  some  of  the  "new 
light"  churches  of  Windham  county,  and  was  desired  by  the 
one  in  his  native  town  to  become  its  minister.  The  next 
month  he  was  invited  to  a  "Separate"  church  in  Boston,  then 
worshipping  in  the  old  Huguenot  meeting-house  in  School 
street ;  and  he  supplied  their  pulpit  about  eight  or  ten  months. 
Nov.  1 2th,  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Robbins,  his  instructor,  that  he 
had  preached  sixty  times  in  and  around  Boston,  and  that  the 
Lord  had  been  with  him  in  a  wonderful  manner. 

In  response  to  an  invitation  of  Jan.  27,  1746,  from  James 
Eveleth  and  Francis  Choate,  as  he  writes  in  his  journal :  "Feb. 
17th,  I  rode  to  Chebacco  and  preached  in  the  meeting-house, 
each  of  the  four  days  following.  When  I  took  my  leave  of 
them,  the  assembly  was  watered  with  tears." 

On  the  20th  of  May  he  was  the  moderator  of  the  Council 
which  organized  the  new  church  in  this  village  and  preached 
here  again  in  August.  A  formal  request  in  the  autumn  from 
the  Boston  society  to  become  their  pastor  he  was  still  holding 
under  consideration,  when  the  Chebacco  church  made  their 
overtures  to  him  in  December. 

It  seems  natural  to  suppose  that  it  was  the  somewhat  simi- 
lar experience  of  trial  and  conflict  through  which  his  own 


78  Congregational  Chnrch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

church  In  Canterbury  had  passed  and  the  additional  troubles 
he  had  suffered  in  College,  for  conscience  sake,  during  pre- 
cisely the  same  years,  as  well  as  his  intense  interest  in  the  revi- 
val moment  and  the  complete  harmony  of  his  views  with 
those  of  the  new  church  in  Chebacco,  that  drew  him  into 
an  especially  close  sympathy  with  them,  when  he  was  balanc- 
ing between  the  two  places  and  decided  him  to  cast  in  his 
lot  with  the  people  here  as  their  fellow  prisoner  in  the  bonds 
of  the  gospel. 

Having  accepted  their  call  Dec.  26,  he  was  ordained  Feb. 
25,  1747,  in  the  presence  of  a  large  audience,  though  the  ser- 
vice was  held  in  the  open  air,  at  an  inclement  season. 

One  of  his  grandsons  (not  a  clergyman),  in  a  foot-note  to 
the  printed  pages  of  his  journal,  has,  I  grieve  to  say,  viewed 
this  matter  of  his  settlement  here  from  altogether  another 
standpoint,  and  suggested  an  additional  if  not  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent motive  for  his  decision,  as  follows : 

"From  a  social  and  worldly  point  of  view  the  Boston  invitation  must 
have  been  far  more  attractive  than  the  Chebacco  call.  But  he  had  found 
in  that  plain  community  of  farmers  and  fishermen,  one  magnet  of  superior 
power.  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  was  the  bright  and  comely  Mary  Choate 
Dodge, —  mentioned  later  in  his  journal  as  his  'dear  and  loving  spouse' — 
who  virtually  determined  the  question  where  he  should  stay." 

We  ought  not  for  an  instant  to  admit  this  soft  impeachment ; 
and  yet  the  very  next  recorded  event  in  his  life  was  his  mar- 
riage, on  the  fifteenth  of  July  following,  to  Mary,  the  only 
daughter  of  Mr.  Parker  Dodge  of  Hamilton. 

From  the  year  1749,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cleaveland  lived  on 
Spring  street,  in  a  house  whose  site  is  now  occupied  by  that 
of  Mrs.  David  Choate  ;  and  it  was  in  that  mansion  that  they 
entertained  the  renowned  Whitefield  as  their  guest  in  the 
autumn  of  1754.     The  entry  in  Mr.  Cleaveland's  journal  is: 

"Oct.  28.  Rev.  George  Whitefield  came  to  our  house  and  preached  the 
next  morning  in  our  meeting-house.  He  then  went  to  Cape  Ann,  preached 
twice,  and  came  and  lodged  with  us  that  night.  I  think  it  a  great  honor  to 
have  his  company." 


Tivo  HiindrcdtJi  Anniversary.  79 

This  is  not  the  place  to  attempt  to  delineate  the  character 
of  Mr.  Cleaveland  or  to  give  a  sketch  of  the  ministry  of  this 
zealous  man  of  God,  this  eloquent  preacher  and  indefatigable 
worker.  But  some  brief  mention  of  three  passages  in  his 
life  may  be  appropriate,  to  illustrate  the  kind  and  quality 
of  his  labors  and  services  for  this  church  and  parish. 

I.  The  first  of  these  takes  us  on  to  the  years  1760-64.  The 
country  had  just  passed  through  the  long  and  exciting  French 
war  which  had  absorbed  the  public  mind.  Many  had  re- 
turned from  army  and  camp  life,  demoralized  in  their  principles 
and  habits  ;  there  was  a  great  increase  of  Sabbath  desecration 
and  profanity,  and  even  in  the  churches  it  was  a  time  of  rehg- 
ious  declension. 

At  this  aspect  of  things,  on  return  from  a  temporary  absence, 
Mr.  Cleaveland's  spirit  was  stirred  within  him.  With  his 
strong  faith  in  the  Bible  doctrine  of  prayer,  he  persuaded  his 
church  to  agree  to  spend  one  day  every  quarter  of  the  year  "in  a 
congregational  fasting  and  praying,"  as  he  says,  "for  the  out- 
pouringof  God's  spirit  upon  all  nations  agreeable  to  the  concert 
for  prayer,  first  entered  into  in  Scotland,  some  years  since 
(in  1744)  ;  and  also  to  spend  a  part  of  a  day  once  a  fortnight 
in  a  private  religious  conference.  This  for  near  half  a  year 
was  held  once  a  week,  for  the  most  part,  and  divers  at  those 
meetings  were  favored  with  a  remarkable  spirit  of  prayer  for 
the  rising  generation". 

From  this  significant  statement  we  learn  the  origin  of  the 
Quarterly  Fast,\n  which  three  of  the  other  churches  in  Ipswich 
began  to  unite  in  1780,  and  which  was  maintained  here  for  a 
hundred  years  and  more  —  the  centennial  year  of  its  estab- 
Hshment  being  observed  by  an  exceedingly  interesting  service 
in  our  meeting-house,  Dec.  31,  i860. 

This  record  also  discloses  the  earliest  observance,  in  this 
community,  of  the  Monthly  concert  of  prayer  for  the  conver- 
sion of  the  world,  for  which  a  circular  invitation  was  sent  out 
from  Scotland   in    1746,  five  hundred  copies  of  which  were 


8o  Congregational  CJinrcJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

sent  to  New  England.  How  enlightened  and  comprehensive 
Mr.  Cleaveland's  views  were  upon  this  subject  of  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  church  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  whole 
world,  and  how  dear  this  object  was  to  his  heart,  appears  also 
from  the  following  remarkable  letter  which  he  wrote  in  1763, 
on  the  duty  of  undertaking  the  christianizing  of  the  American 
Indians : 

"Very  Dear  Sir:  Since  I  have  understood  that  the  preliminary  articles 
of  Peace  are  ratified,  by  which  the  vast  country  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
river  Mississippi,  from  the  source  of  said  river  to  the  ocean,  is  ceded"  (i.e. 
by  France)  "  to  his  Brittanic  majestjs  I  have  been  ready  to  think  we  never 
had  so  loud  a  call  and  so  wide  a  door  opened,  to  use  endeavors  to  propa- 
gate the  gospel  and  spread  the  savour  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  among 
the  Indian  tribes,  which  inhabit  or  rather  range  in  the  extended  wilds  of 
North  America,  as  now  we  have.  A  view  to  christianize  the  Heathen  was 
a  pious  motive  with  our  Forefathers  to  come  into  this  America  at  first; 
and  what  all  along  has  been  an  obstruction  to  their  conversion  God  has 
now  removed.  And  as  God  has  now  given  the  English  nation  all  North 
America,  it  can't  be  thought  that  we  render  again  according  to  the  benefit 
done  unto  us,  if  we  neglect  to  improve  all  proper  means  to  communicate 
to  the  heathen  the  inestimable  treasure  of  the  Gospel,  which  God  has  long 
indulged  us  with  and  now  secured  the  enjoyment  of  to  us,  against  those 
that  ever  have  sought  to  deprive  us  of  the  same.  Moreover,  can  it  be 
supposed  that  God  has  wonderfully  crowned  the  British  arms  with  success 
and  given  us  all  this  vast  country  which  is  now  ceded  to  us,  merely  for 
Great  Britain's  and  British  American  Colonies' sake  —  seeing  the  promise 
is  of  the  heathen  to  Christ  for  an  inheritance.'"' 

Surely  Mr.  Cleaveland  and  his  church  were  fully  abreast  of 
the  times  in  which  they  lived.  Within  three  years  of  the  time 
of  entering  upon  the  use  of  these  most  scriptural  means  for 
securing  a  spiritual  reformation  there  followed  a  religious 
revival,  which,  engrossed  the  attention  of  the  whole  commu- 
nity and  for  the  intensity  of  feeling  experienced  by  those 
who  were  the  subjects  of  it  and  the  number  of  them  —  in  all 
about  an  hundred  persons,  —  as  well  as  for  the  spread  of  it 
into  many  other  places  round  about,  has  never  been  paralleled, 
in  the  history  of  this  church. 

Mr.  Cleaveland's  published  account  of  this,  in  1767  —  in  a 

4! 


Tzvo  Hu  n  drcdtJi  A  n  n  i  vers  a  ry .  8 1 

pamphlet  of  some  thirty-two  pages,  entitled  :  '*A  short  and 
plain  narrative  of  the  late  work  of  God's  spirit  in  Chebacco 
in  Ipswich  in  the  years  1763  and  1764"*  —  is  a  story  of  ex- 
ceeding interest  throughout.! 

THE    REUNION    OF   THE   TWO    CHURCHES    AND    PARISHES. 

2.  Another  of  Mr.  Cleaveland's  more  important  services 
was  that  which  he  performed  in  securing  the  reunion  of  the 
two  churches  here.  Coming  to  Chebacco,  as  he  did,  when 
the  controversy  between  the  two  alienated  divisions  of  the 
original  church  and  parish  was  at  its  height  and  fiercely  rag- 
ing, at  the  invitation  of  one  of  the  two  contending  parties, 
he  of  course  identified  himself  with  its  cause  and  became  its 
champion.  The  last  of  the  four  pamphlets  relative  to  this 
controversy,  entitled  :  '*  Chebacco  narrative  rescued  from  the 
charge  of  falseJwod  and  partiality ;  by  a  friend  of  truth,''  was 
believed  to  have  been  written  by  him  and  gives  some  idea  of 
his  bold  spirit  in  that  contest  and  of  his  style  as  a  writer.  J 

The  fact  is  therefore  all  the  more  noteworthy  that  he, 
the  very  man  who  had  thus  so  hotly  assailed  the  opposite 
camp,  succeeded  within  a  generation,  in  reconciling  those 
brethren  mutually  offended  and  estranged  for  so  long  a  time, 
—  carrying  on  the  process  of  uniting  the  fractured  members 
and  the  healing,  unto  perfect  soundness,  so  that  apparently  no 
trace  of  ill  feeling  remained. 

Indeed  the  members  of  the  old  parish  must  have  learned 
through  their  observation  of  him  as  a  christian  minister,  their 
intercourse  with  him  as  a  fellow  townsman,  and  their  knowl- 
edge of  his  kindness  to  the   soldiers  of  their  families  in  the 

*  See  Appendix  F. 

t  One  of  the  Manchester  converts  was  Edward  Lee,  a  sailor,  "who 
caught  the  flame  of  divine  love  from  the  glowing  soul  of  the  Chebacco 
minister  and  attended  his  preaching  the  rest  of  his  life."  Thirty  years 
afterward  Mr.  Cleaveland  preached  the  funeral  sermon  of  this  man  at  Man- 
chester, in  December,  1793;  and  a  brief  biographical  sketch  of  him  was 
published  in  1849,  ^y  the  American  S.  S.  Union. 

X  See  Appendix  G. 


82  Cons:reo;ational  CJiitrcJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 


"^y  •  ^ii 


French  War,  to  respect  and  appreciate  and  love  him,  in  order 
to  make  as  they  did  —  though  still  stronger  financially  than 
his  parish — the  first  proposal  for  reunion,  within  three  months 
after  the  dismission  of  their  last  minister,  Mr.  Porter,  in  1766. 
The  _^r^/ real  step  towards  this  was  the  arrangement  made  in 
1768,  to  worship  together,  half  the  year  in  each  meeting- 
house; the  second  v^diS  the  agreement,  in  1770,  that  the  old 
parish  should  pay  four-sevenths  of  Mr.  Cleaveland's  salary; 
and  the  decisive  step  was  (by  proposal  of  the  old  church)  a 
joint  meeting  of  the  two  churches  at  the  centre  school-house, 
April,  1774,  for  a  conference  relative  to  a  union,  and  the 
unanimous  vote  by  each  church,  separately,  "to  bury  forever, 
as  a  church,  all  former  differences  between  them  and  the  other 
church  and  to  acknowledge  the  other  a  sister  church  in  charity 
and  fellowship." 

By  vote  of  each  church  at  the  same  place,  the  first  Monday 
in  June,  with  a  concurrence  in  their  action  by  the  two  parishes, 
July  I,  an  ecclesiastical  council,  to  assist  and  advise  the  two 
churches  in  uniting  in  one,  was  called,  which  met,  Oct.  4th, 
in  the  new  meeting-house.  It  consisted  of  the  other  four 
churches  in  Ipswich  and  the  church  in  Byfield,  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Leslie  was  its  moderator. 

To  settle  a  difficulty  of  longstanding  between  the  new  church 
and  that  in  Manchester,  (occasioned  by  the  former  church's 
receiving  to  communion,  members  of  the  latter  under  disci- 
pline), there  was  an  adjournment  until  the  25th.  This 
obstacle  having  been  removed,  a  plan  of  union,  articles  of 
faith  and  a  covenant,  the  preparation  of  which  had  been 
assigned  to  a  committee,  were  reported  to  the  Council,  accep- 
ted and  recommended  to  the  two  churches.  The  churches, 
also,  after  deliberation,  passed  a  unanimous  vote  of  accept- 
ance ;  and  these  documents  were  subscribed  in  the  presence  of 
the  council  by  Dea.  Seth  Story,  moderator,  and  five  other 
brethren  of  the  old  church,  and  the  pastor  and  twenty-two 
brethren  of  the  new. 


Tzvo  IIundrcdtlL  Anniversary .  83 

The  Compact  was  in  part,  as  follows : 

"Heads  of  Agreement  for  uniting-  the  Second  and  Fourth  Churches  of 
Ipswich  into  one  Congregational  Church,  come  into  in  the  presence  of  a 
council  of  Churches." 

"I.  We,  the  Second  and  Fourth  Churches  of  Ipswich,  covenant  and 
agree  to  become  one  Congregational  church,  under  the  name  or  style  of 
the  Second  Church  of  Ipswich. 

3.  We  covenant  and  agree  to  receive  the  word  of  God  contained  in  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  to  be  our  absolute  and  only  rule 
relative  to  the  doctrines  of  faith,  the  worship  of  God,  church-government 
and  discipline,  all  relative  duties,  and  a  virtuous  life  and  conversation. 

4.  As  we  aim  to  be  a  true  Protestaiit  Church  in  our  united  state,  we 
covenant  and  agree  to  profess  unity  of  faith  with  the  Protestant  church  in 
general,  by  adopting  that  system  of  Christian  doctrine  held  forth  in  the 
Westminster  shorter  catechism  and  the  New  England  Confession  of  Faith  ; 
it  being  a  sound,  orthodox  system  or  summary  of  Scripture  doctrine,  accord- 
ing to  our  understanding  of  the  word  of  God. 

5.  And,  as  we  aim  to  be  a  strictly  Congregational  Church  in  point  of 
church-government  and  discipline  in  our  united  state,  we  covenant  and 
agree  to  adhere  to  the  platform  of  church  government  and  discipline  drawn 
up  .by  a  synod  at  Cambridge  in  New  England,  A.  D.  1648,  as  containing 
our  sentiments,  in  the  general,  relative  to  a  church-state,  its  power,  its  offi- 
cers, their  ordination,  the  qualifications  for  church-membership,  admission 
of  members,  the  communion  of  churches,  &c.,  &c.,  —  in  a  word  relative 
to  church-government  in  general. 

And  now,  as  a  visible  political  union  among  a  number  of  visible  saints 
is  necessary  to  constitute  them  a  particular  Congregational  Church,  and 
this  political  union  or  essential  form  is  a  visible  covenant,  agreement  or 
consent,  whereby  they  give  up  themselves  to  the  Lord  to  the  observing  of 
the  ordinances  of  Christ  together  in  the  same  society;  so  a  visible  politi- 
cal union  between  us  as,  churches  is  neccessary  to  constitute  us  one  particu- 
lar Congregational  Church  : 

Wherefore,  we,  the  Second  and  Fourth  Churches  of  Ipswich,  having 
agreed  to  become  one  united  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  worship  of 
God  and  the  observing  of  his  ordinances  together  in  the  same  society,  and 
having  before  as  distinct  churches  covenanted  with  God  and  one  another 
in  a  distinct  covenant  respectively,  do  now  as  churches,  consistent  with 
sacred  regard  thereto,  covenant  together  to  be  one  church  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  solemnly  renew  covenant  with  God  in  Christ  to  walk  and  worship  to- 
gether as  one  body,  by  signing  together  the  following  form  or  covenant  * 

*This  covenant  which  is  given  in  the  church  records  is  there  stated  to 
have  been  taken  verbatim  from  the  covenant  framed  by  Rev.  Mr.  Hio-o-inson 
for  the  church  in  Salem,  Aug.  6,  1829;  with  the  omission  of  one  paragraph, 
and  the  addition  of  two  paragraphs  and  two  clauses. 


84  Congregational  CJmrch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

which  is  in  substance  the  same  as  is  understood  to  be  the  original  cove- 
nant of  the  Second  Church  of  Ipswich,  in  which  it  (that  is  the  Second 
Church)  was  founded. 

"In  testimony  of  our  holj  resokition  in  the  strength  of  Christ  to  stand 
and  walk  together  in  the  fellowship  of  the  Gospel,  in  a  careful  observance 
of  this  covenant  and  the  foregoing  heads  of  agreement,  we  not  only  call 
Heaven  and  Earth  to  witness,  but  set  our  names  hereunto,  in  the  presence 
of  an  Ecclesiastical  Council,  this  26th  day  of  October,  1774." 

The  record  proceeds : 

"It  was  then  desired  that  if  any  of  the  congregation  had  aught  to  object 
to  the  articles,  they  would  signify  it.  There  was  no  objection.  Thereupon 
the  moderator,  in  the  name  and  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  council, 
saluted  the  brethren  as  a  united  church  by  the  name  of  the  Second  Church 
in  Ipswich,  and  gave  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to  them  as  a  sister  church  ; 
also  gave  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cleaveland,  as  Pastor 
of  the  united  church,  and  the  other  Elders  of  the  Council  did  the  same. 
The  united  church  voted  their  thanks  to  the  Council,  and  the  business  of 
the  day  was  concluded  with  singing  the  one  hundred  and  thirty- third  and 
a  part  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-second  Psalms,  and  with  prayer  by 
the  moderator." 

As  this  very  year  the  church  had  for  the  first  time  voted  "to 
choose  some  of  the  brethren  skilled  in  singing,  to  lead  the 
church  and  congregation  in  the  service  of  singing  praise  to 
God"  —  instead  of  the  lining  of  the  hymns  by  one  of  the  dea- 
cons—  and  such  men  as  Joseph  Perkins,  John  Choate  and 
Abraham  Perkins  were  the  first  choristers,  it  is  not  to  be 
doubted  that  those  Psalms  extolling  fraternal  union  and  pray- 
ing for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem  were  sung  with  great  musical 
skill  and  fervor. 

The  legal  union  of  the  two  parishes  under  the  name  of  the 
Second  Parish  was  effected  the  next  year,  by  conditions  of 
union  adopted  by  them  both,  March  2,  1775,  and  an  act  of 
the  General  Court  passed  on  their  petition,  April  lOth. 

To  Mr.  Cleaveland,  in  his  successful  accomplishment  of  this 
so  desirable  but  difficult  undertaking,  could  properly  be  ap- 
plied the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  :  *'Thou  shalt  raise  up  the  foun- 
dations of  many  generations ;  and  thou  shalt  be  called  the 
repairer  of  the    breach,  the    restorer  of  paths  to  dwell  in." 


Two  HiindrcdtJi  Anniversary.  85 

Most  fully  merited  was  the  tribute  paid  to  his  memory  for 
this  beneficent  work,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Parish  of  Byficld  in  his 
memorial  discourse  preached  not  long  after  Mr.  Cleaveland's 
death : 

"That  Mr.  Cleaveland  was  a  man  of  consummate  prudence,  of  irre- 
proachable conduct,  of  meekness  of  temper  and  suavity  of  manners  we 
have  ample  evidence  in  the  union  which  has  taken  place  under  his  minis- 
try, between  the  two  churches  and  congregations,  which  now  compose 
this  society. 

At  first  he  was  the  minister  of  only  one  of  these  when  very  probably 
both,  possessing  the  spirit  of  the  times,  might  not  unjustly  be  compared 
to  two  clouds,  which  at  every  moment  disgorge  the  thunder  and  dart  terrific 
flames ;  but,  by  the  attractive  influence  of  him  whose  death  we  all  deplore, 
the  clouds,  dissolving,  lost  their  awful  form,  the  storm  was  hushed,  the 
darkness  fled.     The  gentle  shower,  the  peaceful  bow  succeeds." 

REV.    MR.    cleaveland's    CHAPLAINCIES. 

3.  The  third  kind  of  service  w^iich  Mr.  Cleaveland  ren- 
dered the  community  was  in  his  military  chaplancies.  Like 
his  eminent  predecessor,  Rev.  Mr.  Wise,  he  served  his  country 
in  this  office  in  two  wars,  with  a  sincere  and  fearless  patriotism. 

In  the  French  and  Indian  War  (1756-1763)  he  was  com- 
missioned March  13,  1758,  on  the  staff  of  Gen.  Bagley  of  the 
Third  Provincial  Regiment  of  Foot,  the  fourth  company  of 
which  was  made  up  of  Chebacco  and  Hamilton  men,  officers 
and  privates,  in  the  army  of  Gen.  Abercrombie,  which  was 
to  attempt  the  capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga.  Travelling  on 
horseback  Mr.  C.  joined  his  regiment  at  Albany,  and  was 
with  it  on  the  northward  march  early  in  June,  to  and  across 
Lake  George ;  in  the  bloody  and  disastrous  fight  which 
followed,  on  the  8th,  not  far  from  its  northwest  shore,  in  an 
attempt  to  force  the  intrenchments  of  the  French  posted 
there ;  in  its  retreat ;  and  during  the  remainder  of  the  sea- 
son until  autumn.  Obtaining  a  furlough,  he  returned  home 
in  October. 

The  next  summer  his  regiment  was  ordered  to  reinforce 
the  garrison  occupying  the  fortress  of  Louisburg  on  the  island 


86  Congregational  ChurcJi  and  ParisJi,  Essex. 

of  Cape  Breton,  (which  had  been  taken  in  1758),  during  the 
operations  of  Gen.  Wolfe  against  Quebec.  Mr.  Cleaveland, 
''much  affected  by  the  parting  scene  with  wife  and  chil- 
dren," as  he  writes,  sailed  from  Boston,  July  14,  on  the  sloop 
Wilmot,  Capt.  Gay,  and  because  of  fogs,  calms  and  head- 
winds had  a  voyage  of  fourteen  days  to  the  island.  There 
he  was  occupied  with  his  duties  as  chaplain  until,  Quebec 
having  fallen  and  the  troops  having  been  ordered  back  to 
New  England,  he  started  on  his  return  voyage,  Oct.  30,  1759 
and  arrived  in  Boston,  Nov.  9. 

During  these  absences  his  pulpit  was  supplied  a  part  of  the 
time  by  neighboring  ministers.  Often  there  was  no  preach- 
ing, but  a  meeting  was  held  every  Sabbath  and  prayers  were 
always  offered  for  the  pastor  and  the  soldiers. 

Not  only  is  the  sea-chest  he  took  with  him  on  this  expedi- 
tion preserved  in  the  Essex  Institute  at  Salem,  together  with 
his  commission  signed  by  Gov.  Pownall,  but  also  his  journal 
and  letters;  from  which  we  learn  quite  fully  of  his  preaching 
and  his  private  exhortations  to  the  soldiers,  his  ministering 
to  them  when  sick,  sending  their  messages  home,  and  com- 
municating to  their  friends  tidings  of  their  welfare,  sometimes 
of  their  sickness  and  death ;  his  lamentations  over  the  pro- 
fanity and  other  vices  prevalent  in  the  army,  and  various 
experiences  of  camp  and  garrison  life.  On  the  voyage  he 
had  prayers  night  and  morning,  and  he  reports  a  great  refor- 
mation from  swearing,  among  the  crew,  through  his  expostu- 
lations with  them.  The  editor  of  that  portion  of  the  Journal, 
which  has  been  published  in  the  Historical  Collections  of  the 
Essex  Institute,  fitly  remarks : 

"These  journals  abundantly  show  also  that  he  knew  how  to  mingle  on 
terms  the  most  friendly  with  men  whose  habits  of  life  and  thought  had 
always  been  very  different  from  his  own.  It  is  impossible  to  doubt  that 
the  British  nobleman,  the  English  colonel,  and  even  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land clergyman,  with  whom  he  then  and  there  came  in  contact,  fully 
appreciated  and  readily  acknowledged  the  solid  worth  of  this  poor,  but 
brave,  Yankee,  Puritan,  Congregational  Minister." 


Tivo  Hundredth  Anniversary.  87 

A  few  extracts  from  his  journal  and  the  Louisburg  letters  to 
his  wife,  which  have  never  before  been  printed,  are  as  follows  : 

"I  need  help  from  above  to  be  wise  and  faithful.  I  desire  you  and  all 
the  christian  friends  to  pray  for  me,  that  I  may  be  a  fisher  of  men,  and 
may  cast  the  net  on  the  right  side  of  the  ship." 

Aug.  12.  "I  live  very  comfoi-tably  here,  but  not  so  agreeably  as  in  my 
own  family,  with  my  best  friends.  But  I  doubt  not  in  the  least  of  my 
being  called  by  Providence  to  be  here  as  yet.  And,  O,  that  my  being  here 
may  not  be  in  vain,  but  that  God  would  own  and  bless  me  and  make  me  a 
blessing  to  many  ready  to  perish.  Profane  swearing  seems  to  be  the  natu- 
ralized language  of  the  Regulars  in  general.  Last  Lord's  day  I  preached 
from  the  words  of  Christ,  'But  I  say  unto  you,  swear  not  at  all.'  We  had 
a  very  crowded  assembly;  vastly  more  Regulars  than  Provincials.  My 
Lord  Rollo,  the  Governor's  Lieut.  Col.,  was  present." 

"One  thing  looks  encouraging:  that  every  time  we  meet  we  are  more 
and  more  thronged,  and  last  Sabbath  in  the  afternoon,  the  house  was 
crowded  quite  full,  half  an  hour  before  the  bell  rang,  and  it  was  said  that 
in  the  time  of  worship,  as  many  stood  around  the  house,  as  were  within ; 
and  to  appearance  they  gave  very  earnest  attention.  But  nothing  will  be 
efficacious,  unless  the  arm  of  the  Lord  is  revealed  and  the  Divine  Spirit 
poured  out.  O  pray  for  me,  and  let  my  people  know,  as  you  have  opportu- 
nity, that  I  desire  they  would  continue  instant  in  prayer  for  me.  And  give 
my  kind  regards  to  all  the  ministers  that  are  so  good  as  to  preach  for  me  in 
my  absence,  and  let  them  know  it  is  my  earnest  desire  they  would  pray 
much  for  me  and  stir  up  the  godly,  as  they  have  opportunity  to  do  the 
same." 

Sept.  2.  "I  am  not  without  hopes  that  God  will  bless  my  labors  in 
Louisburg,  especially  among  the  Regulars.  The  seats  in  the  meeting- 
house are  commonly  filled  with  them  before  the  Provincials  get  there,  and 
they  give  such  good  attention." 

On  the  Sabbath  after  the  news  of  the  taking  of  Quebec 
was  received,  Mr.  Cleaveland  "preached  on  the  occasion  of 
the  recent  victory  to  a  full  and  solemn  house."  The  Sabbath 
following,  Oct.  14,  he  "preached  to  a  very  crowded  house 
indeed."  The  15th  was  "a  day  of  rejoicing  over  the  victories 
at  Quebec.  The  weather  was  greatly  like  winter."  On  the 
19th  "the  rejoicing  still  continued."  Oct.  25th  was  observed 
as  a  day  of  religious  thanksgiving  and  Mr.  C.  again  preached  to 
the  garrison,  from  Heb.  13,  13. 

On  the  voyage  home  he  wrote : 


88  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex, 

"Nov.  4.  (Sabbath),  There  was  no  walking  on  deck  on  account  of  the 
roughness  of  the  sea.  Met  a  little  privateer  with  English  colors  ;  hailed 
her,  but  she  made  no  answer.  One  or  two  other  ships  made  their  appear- 
ance and  hoisted  the  red  flag,  and  we  the  blue.  At  4  p.m.,  we  saw  land 
along  shore  for  several  leagues.  After  filling,  tacking  and  floating,  the 
wind  sprang  up  at  midnight,  much  in  our  favor." 

"Nov.  8th.  A  fine  breeze,  pleasant  weather,  and  hopes  of  soon  getting 
home.     The  Lord  be  praised  for  such  a  favorable  breeze." 

"  Nov.  9th.  Fair  wind  still  continuing  —  good  dinner.  We  ran  well 
until  sunrise,  than  it  began  to  rain.  The  light  is  ahead,  but  the  wind  dies 
awaj  and  we  move  slowlj.  However,  by  gentle  breaths  we  arrived  at 
Boston,  and  cast  anchor  bj  3  o'clock,  p.m." 

"Nov.  nth.  (Sabbath),  Went  to  Mr.  Bowles'  and  dined,  then  crossed 
Charlestown  ferry,  got  a  horse  and  did  not  get  down  from  it,  until  I  reached 
my  own  door,  where  I  found  my  family  well.  Thanks  to  the  Most  High 
God,  for  his  good  hand  over  me,  in  returning  me  in  safety.  What  shall  I 
render  to  God  for  all  his  benefits  toward  me?  God  grant  me  grace  to  walk 
answerable  to  the  mercies  I  have  received.  Amen  and  Amen." 

In  the  earliest  preparations  for  armed  resistance  to  Great 
Britain  near  the  close  of  1774,  Chebacco  was  on  the  alert  to 
do  its  part.  Of  the  meeting  held  Dec.  20,  for  organizing  a 
military  company  of  foot,  at  which  sixty-eight  men  signed 
the  muster-roll  of  the  ''Training  Band,"  Mr.  Cleaveland  w^as 
the  clerk.  And  the  strong  probability  is,  both  from  their 
sentiment  and  phraseology,  that  the  courageous  and  patriotic 
''Resolutions"  passed  at  that  meeting  and  preserved  in  his 
hand-writing,  were  drawn  up  by  him.  Two  of  these  are  as 
follows : 

"  2.  Resolved:  That  the  ofl[icers,  who  shall  be  chosen  and  shall  accept  of 
the  choice,  shall  hold  themselves  obliged,  in  obedience  to  their  superior 
Ofllicers  appointed  agreeable  to  the  advice  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  to 
send  us  forth  to  action  in  the  Field  of  Battle  in  Defence  of  our  constitu- 
tional privileges,  whensoever  there  shall  be  a  manifest  call  for  it  against 
our  common  enemies." 

"4.  Resolved:  That  we  will  yield  such  Obedience  to  the  commands  of 
the  Officers  that  shall  be  chosen  and  shall  accept  of  the  choice,  as  the  Pro- 
vincial Laws  respecting  the  Militia  require ;  and  submit  to  such  punish- 
ments, in  case  of  Delinquency  in  us,  as  the  said  Laws  also  require." 

After  the  Lexington  and  Concord  fight  we  find  Mr. 
Cleaveland  at  VVatertown,  June    i,  to  tender  to  the  leaders 


Two  Hundredth  Anniversary.  89 

such  services  as  he  could  render,  and  the  next  month  acting 
as  chaplain  of  Col.  Little's  regiment,  the  17th  Foot,  Conti- 
nental army  (enlisted  July  i),  with  his  quarters  in  Mollis  Hall, 
one  of  the  College  buildings  at  Cambridge;  his  youngest  son, 
a  boy  of  sixteen,  as  his  attendant  and  his  three  other  sons 
and  his  two  brothers  (one  a  Colonel)  also  among  the  host 
gathered  about  Boston.  A  few  of  his  letters  of  this  time  are 
extant. 

Aug.  28,  he  writes  to  Dr.  N.  Daggett,  President  of  Yale 
College : 

"An  unnatural  war!  We  hear  its  confused  noises  and  see  garments 
rolled  in  blood.  Yesterday  the  cannon  roared  all  dav  long  from  both  sides. 
Two  of  our  men  killed,  one  wounded.  We  killed  some  of  the  enemy; 
sunk  one  of  their  floating  batteries  and  disabled  another.  Our  people  in 
high  spirits  and  extremely  impatient  to  be  at  the  enemy.  This  moment 
the  drums  are  beating  an  alarm.  It  is  said  the  enemy  are  coming  out.  I 
wish  they  would,  but  doubt  about  their  having  courage  to  leave  their  lines 
to  attempt  to  force  ours." 

Obliged  to  return  to  his  parochial  duties,  he  writes,  Nov. 
28,  1775,  from  Chebacco  to  his  three  sons,  John,  Parker  and 
Ebenezer,  who  were  then  in  the  Army : 

"  I  hope  3'ou  are  all  well.  Our  love  is  to  you  all ;  wish  you  to  write  and 
let  me  know  what  is  passing  in  the  army,  and  your  circumstances.  I  don't 
know  when  1  shall  come  again  to  the  army.  The  weather  is  such  that  I 
cannot  perform  the  duties  of  a  chaplain  abroad,  if  I  was  present.  It  is 
somewhat  likely  I  shall  come  week  after  next." 

Dec.  8,  he  writes  that  he  is  going  to  camp  as  soon  as  his 
surtout  is  made. 

Dec.  10,  1775.     To  his  son  John,  he  writes: 

"I  suppose  your  campaign  is  now  expired  and  your  face  set  homeward. 
But  I  hope  you  will  soon  return  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty. 
God  has  done  great  things  for  us  by  sea  and  by  land,  since  we  have  en- 
gaged in  defence  of  our  rights;  and  though  the  wickedness  of  the  army  is 
great,  I  hope  and  believe  that  God  will  plead  our  cause;  but  the  wicked  he 
will  punish  for  their  wickedness.  The  Lord  keep  me,  my  brother,  and  our 
sons  from  having  any  fellowship  with  the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness, 


90  Congregational  ChnrcJi   and  Parish,  Essex. 

but  that  we  rather  reprove  them  and  be  made  instrumental  of  procuring 
temporal  salvation  for  the  land,  and  be  made  subjects  ourselves  of  eternal 
salvation." 

To  Col.  Phinney  he  writes : 

''  Chebacco,  Dec.  13,  1775.  Dear  Sir.  By  reason  of  the  coldness  of  the 
weather  being  such  that  I  could  not  perform  Divine  service  abroad  in  the 
open  air  at  camp,  I  have  been  at  home  for  some  time.  I  shall  come  to 
camp  again  shortly,  but  don't  expect  to  tarry  in  winter  season,  for  the  above 
mentioned  reason."  "It  grieves  me  that  there  is  so  much  profaneness  in 
our  army.  I  should  think  officers  might  do  much  to  suppress  it,  and  trust 
there  is  not  so  much  in  your  regiment  as  in  those  where  some  of  the  chief 
officers  don't  set  the  best  example  before  their  men,  relative  to  it;  yet  I 
hope  God  will  appear  for  us,  ere  the  spring  comes." 

In  the  autumn  of  1776  when  the  mihtia  were  called  out  to 
protect  the  frontiers  of  Connecticut  and  aid  in  guarding  sup- 
plies, Mr.  Cleaveland  again  took  the  position  of  chaplain, 
in  the  Third  Essex  Regiment  commanded  by  his  young  par- 
ishioner and  friend,  Col.  Jonathan  Cogswell,  and  containing 
the  Chebacco  company  of  over  sixty  men,  among  them  the 
chaplain's  youngest  son.  The  regiment  marched  from  home 
Sept.  25th  and  was  stationed  for  a  time  at  Fairfield  on  the 
Sound.  Mr.  Cleaveland  joined  it  Oct.  9th,  on  the  15th  wrote 
to  his  son  Parker  as  follows : 

"I  arrived  six  days  ago  in  health  and  found  Nehemiah  and  all  our  Ipswich 
company  in  health  ;  and  the  little  army,  stationed  in  this  town  consisting 
of  two  regiments  is  in  general  in  very  good  health  and  behaves  well.  We 
hear  no  profaneness  amongst  them  and  they  attend  divine  service  in  the 
meeting  house  night  and  morning  very  cheerfully  and  seriously,  to  all 
appearance." 

The  regiment  was  also  in  the  battle  of  White  Plains,  Oct. 
28th,  in  which  though  many  were  killed  and  wounded  on 
both  sides,  the  British  failed  of  their  object,  which  was  to  get 
possession  of  the  eastern  roads  and  cut  off  supplies.  After 
occupying  post  with  most  of  the  New  England  troops  under 
Gen.  Lee  at  North  Castle,  the  regiment  was  ordered  home 
early  in  the  winter,  when  New  Jersey  had  become  the  chief 
seat  of  war. 


Tzvo  lIundrcdtlL  Anniversary.  91 

Unable  at  his  age  to  endure  the  exposures  to  heahh,  of  Hfe 
in  camp  and  on  the  march,  or  even  to  be  absent  from  his 
parish  for  any  great  length  of  time,  by  the  example  he  had 
already  given  as  well  as  by  his  words  he  inspired  his  sons 
with  a  patriotic  spirit  and  gave  them  to  his  country. 

The  oldest,  Lieut.  John  Cleaveland,  served  through  the 
whole  war,  and  was  the  rest  of  his  life  a  faithful  soldier  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  the  gospel  ministry.  Ebenezer  was  first  a 
private  in  the  army,  afterwards  served  on  a  privateer,  was  taken 
prisoner,  exchanged  or  liberated,  and  died  of  fever  on  board 
a  continental  ship  on  his  return  home  from  the  West  Indies.* 

The  other  two  were  also  in  the  service  for  a  considera- 
ble time,  one  as  surgeon-in-chief  of  a  Continental  regiment. 
Afterwards  through  long  lives  they  were  among  the  most  emi- 
nent physicians  of  their  day  in  Essex  county,  serving  also 
with  marked  ability  and  influence  in  public  life  —  both  of  them 
often  in  the  Legislature,  one  in  the  State  and  United  States 
constitutional  conventions,  and  the  other  a  judge  and  afterwards 
chief  justice  of  the  Court  of  Sessions  for  a  long  period.  They 
were  both  conscientious  christian  men  of  strong  religious 
convictions. 

*Respectinghis  death  Mr.  Cleaveland  wrote  a  characteristic  and  touching 
letter  to  another  of  his  sons,  which  is  in  part  as  follows  : 

"Chebacco,  April  25,  1780.  My  dear  Son.  How  fading  are  all  things 
here  below  !  On  Friday  last  we  had  the  heavy  and  certain  news  of  the  death 
of  your  brother  Ebenezer.  He  dyed,  according  to  Capt.  Odle's  book,  the 
30th  of  March,  on  board  the  continental  ship  Eustis,  Capt.  Samuel  Bishop, 
in  latitude  25°,  coming  home  from  Eustatia,  last.  The  Captain  said  your 
brother  rejoiced,  or  was  glad  the  time  of  his  departure  had  come.  Capt. 
Odle  and  several  others  said  Ebenezer  had  his  reason  to  the  last,  but  was 
not  able  to  speak  much  the  day  he  died.  Your  brother  being  dead  yet 
speaketh  and  preacheth  a  lecture  'Be  ye  also  ready'  —  louder  than  ever  your 
father  preached,  or  than  ever  we  heard  thunder  roar.  Oh  that  it  may  touch 
the  heart  to  the  centre  and  rouse  up  all  the  powers  of  the  soul!  to  what.? 
Why  to  be  still  and  know  that  the  Supreme  Being  is  God,  and  to  glorify 
him  as  God,  by  a  life  of  faith  in  him  and  obedience  to  Christ,  who  is  the 
head  over  all  things..,  and  does  all  things  zvell.  Let  us  think  and  speak  well 
of  him  and  of  all  his  administration  in  providence  and  grace." 


92  Congregational  CJnircJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

A  remark  sometimes  made  by  aged  persons,  seventy  years 
ago,  who  remembered  the  days  of  the  Revolution,  that  he 
"preached  all  the  men  of  his  parish  into  the  army  and  then 
went  himself,"  also  attests  Mr.  Cleaveland's  zeal  for  the  cause 
as  well  as  his  great  influence  over  the  people  of  Chebacco. 
And  so  what  his  eulogist,  Dr.  Parish,  declared  after  his  death 
was  literally  true : 

"Active  and  enterprising,  he  repeatedly  left  the  silence  of  his  study  for 
the  din  of  war;  the  jojs  of  domestic  peace  for  the  dangers  of  the  bloody 
field.  The  waters  of  Champlain,  the  rocks  of  Cape  Breton,  the  fields  of 
Cambridge  and  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  listened  to  the  fervor  of  his  ad- 
dresses."* 

And  his  patriotic  example,  together  with  his  preaching, 
helps  us  more  clearly  to  understand  why  President  John 
Adams  once  said  to  a  French  statesman,  that  "American  in- 
dependence was  mainly  due  to  the  clergy." 

Such  was  Mr.  Cleaveland's  zeal  in  his  religious  work ;  and 
such  his  services  in  uniting  the  two  Chebacco  churches  and  in 
his  two  army  chaplaincies. 

REV.    MR.    cleaveland's    LATER   VEARS. 

The  remaining  years  of  the  century  after  the  war  of  Inde- 
pendence was  over,  he  seems  to  have  passed  in  quiet  and 
serenity,  dwelling  among  his  own  people,  like  a  sort  of  patri- 
arch, .active  and  energetic  to  the  last  in  all  the  duties  of  his 
ministerial  calling. 

In  1790  the  pleasant  relations  between  him  and  his  parish 
were  illustrated  by  their  movement  to  build  a  new  and  com- 
paratively costly  meeting  house.  This  they  completed  within 
about  three  years  and  on  the  8th  of  October  1793  he  had  the 
great  satisfaction  of  preaching  to  a  large  audience  the  dedi- 
cation sermon,  from  Acts  x:  33. 

*Mr.  Cleaveland's  Revolutionary  camp-chest  is  in  the  Essex  Institute; 
and  the  rude  buck-horn  handled  sword,  which  he  wore  in  all  his  campaigns, 
has  been  preserved  and  is  now  in  the  possession  of  one  of  his  descendants. 


Tzvo  Hundredth  A 


nnivcrsary.  93 


It  was  not  until  about  this  time  that  hymns  began  to  be  read 
by  the  minister  in  the  Sabbath  worship,  as  they  are  now ;  and 
not  until  about  five  years  earher  than  this  that  choirs  began 
to  do  the  singing.  On  this  occasion,  "the  singing  was  con- 
ducted with  great  animation  and  power,  the  choir  being  led 
by  Mr.  Isaac  Long  of  Hopkinton,  N.  H.,  one  of  the  builders 
of  the  meeting-house." 

In  this  edifice,  also,  Mr.  Cleaveland  preached,  March  8, 
1797,  a  half-century  lecture  from  Acts  xxvi :  22;  which  he 
concluded  with  these  words  ; 

lam  now  near  the  close  of  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  my  age,  and  have  especial 
reason  with  uniform  gratitude  to  the  Supreme  Disposer  of  all  good  events, 
to  say:  'Having  obtained  help  of  God  I  continue  unto  this  dav.'  For 
near  fifty-five  years  since,  while  at  college,  I  was  taken  sick  of  a  violent 
fever,  which  deprived  me  of  my  reason  and  ran  high  upon  me  for  forty 
days;  and  for  near  a  fortnight  my  life  was  despaired  of  by  my  attendants 
and  all  who  saw  me.  Even  the  President  of  the  college  was  so  apprehen- 
sive of  my  dying  then,  that  he  prepared  a  funeral  sermon  to  be  preached 
on  account  of  my  expected  decease.  But  in  the  moment  of  extremity  the 
Lord  appeared  and  plucked  me  as  a  brand  from  the  burning,  and  having 
obtained  help  of  God  I  continue  unto  this  time,  to  my  surprise  as  often  as 
I  think  of  it.  While  that  president  and  two  presidents  besides,  and  a  large 
number  of  my  fellow-students  are  gone  to  their  long  home.  And  this  dav, 
fifty  years  ago  I  was  ordained  a  pastor  of  a  flock  of  Christ  in  this  place, 
and  here  have  continued  to  preach  the  gospel  half  a  century." 

That  Mr.  Cleaveland,  with  all  his  influence  among  his  peo- 
ple, never  arrogated  to  himself  any  authority  over  them,  but 
continued  to  the  last  to  recognize  the  supremacy  of  the  broth- 
erhood and  the  responsibility  resting  upon  them  in  all  eccle- 
siastical matters,  (things  which  it  has  been  aptly  said  are 
"fundamental  in  the  constitution  of  Congregational  churches, 
and  essential  to  the  success  of  this  form  of  church  polity,")  is 
well  illustrated  by  a  vote  of  the  church  of  April  30,  1797  on 
receiving  an  invitation  to  join  other  churches  in  an  ordaining 
council.  It  was  voted  to  comply  with  the  invitation  but  not 
to  choose  a  delegate,  "until  the  church  should  hear  the  can- 
didate preach  a  sermon  or  two."      Having,  May  28th,   heard 


94  Congregational  CJinrcJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

him  preach  ''to  good  acceptance  three  sermons,"  they  chose 
their  delegate,  both  they  and  their  pastor,  then  as  always, 
considering  the  participation  of  the  church  in  such  an  affair 
to  be  no  mere  form,  but  a  transaction  in  which  the  whole  body 
was  a  responsible  party. 

Living  on  still  longer  and  completing  the  fifty-second  year 
of  his  ministry  and  the  seventy-seventh  of  his  life,  and  on 
the  last  Sabbath  but  one  before  the  end  preaching  with  his 
usual  animation,  he  died  on  the  twenty-second  of  April  1799, 
coming  to  his  grave  /;/  a  full  age,  like  as  a  shoek  of  corn 
cometJi  in,  in  his  season. 

After  such  a  career,  "eminently  a  faithful  watchman,  being 
ever  ready  and  apt  to  teach,"  a7i  eloquent  man  and  mighty 
in  the  Scriptures,  full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  he 
had  been,  no  wonder  that  Rev.  Mr.  Dana  of  Ipswich  took 
for  the  text  of  his  funeral  sermon  the  cry  of  Elisha  at  the 
translation  of  Elijah :  "My  father,  my  father,  the  chariot  of 
Israel  and  the  horsemen  thereof." 

And  most  fitly  did  the  Rev.  Dr.  Parish  of  Byfield,  in  his 
memorial  discourse  from  Psalms  cxvi :  15,  delivered  in  the  de- 
ceased pastor's  pulpit  on  the  second  of  June  following,  rise 
to  a  lofty  strain  of  glowing  eulogy  in  his  appreciative  delin- 
eation of  the  character  of  his  venerated  elder  in  the  ministry. 

With  the  published  descriptions  of  Mr.  Cleaveland's  per- 
sonal appearance  all  are  familiar, —  his  erect  muscular  form, 
his  stature  of  nearly  six  feet,  his  florid  complexion  and  blue 
eyes,  his  amiable  and  benevolent  face  into  which  every  body 
loved  to  look.  According  to  his  own  memorandum  he  weighed 
in  1769  two  hundred  and  seven  pounds,  and  in  1773  tw^o 
hundred  and  thirty  pounds.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  con- 
stitution and  ardent  temperament;  his  voice  heavy  and  of 
great  compass. 

One  of  his  younger  contemporaries  said  of  Mr.  Cleaveland 
as  a  preacher  and  writer : 

"An  earnest  spirit,  an  unpolished  energy  and  a  sincerity  which  none 


Two  HinidrcdtJi  Anniversary .  95 

could  question  characterized  him  in  the  pulpit.  His  faniiliaritj  with  the 
Scriptures  was  proverbial;  his  general  learning  respectable.  His  writings 
though  often  forcible  and  fervent  could  lay  no  claim  to  elegance." 

One  of  his  descendants  refers  to  some  of  the  most  prominent 
quahties  of  his  character  in  these  words  :  "An  earnest  and 
honest  man,  conscientious,  faithftd  and  affectionate,  acting 
and  speaking  always  under  a  high  sense  of  duty  and  throwing 
his  whole  heart  into  everything  he  said  or  did." 

III.  The  last,  and  of  course  the  briefest,  division  of  this 
historical  review  has  to  do  with  the  present  century,  a  period 
less  eventful  than  the  two  preceding,  but,  in  decided  contrast 
with  them,  distinguished  on  the  whole  for  calm,  steady,  spir- 
itual progress  and  for  the  great  activity  of  the  church  in  all 
good  works,  the  successive  pastors  preeminently  zealous  and 
leading  the  way  but  the  brotherhood  cooperating  and  exer- 
cising their  varied  gifts  for  the  same  end. 

Out  of  all  that  has  taken  place  during  this  period  two  things 
at  least  should  be  specified  as  conspicuously  characterizing 
the  life  of  the  church,  and  therefore  as  worthy  of  record. 

I.  As  has  been  true  everywhere  else  in  New  England,  this 
has  been  in  this  community,  on  the  whole,  emphatically  the 
era  of  seasons  of  special  and  sometimes  intense  but  thought- 
ful and  rational  religious  interest. 

Because  we  do  not  find  any  such  revivals  taking  place  in 
the  two  earliest  pastorates  of  the  century,  that  of  Rev.  Josiah 
Webster,  extending  from  Nov.  13,  1799  to  July  23,  1806,  and 
that  of  Rev.  Thomas  Holt  from  Jan.  25,  1809  to  April  20, 
18 1 3,  it  would  be  an  unwarrantable  inference  and  most  unchari- 
table to  impute  any  lack  of  faithfulness  or  of  pious  earnestness 
to  these  ministers.  The  condition  of  the  times,  just  then, 
was  most  unfavorable  to  the  spiritual  life  and  prosperity  of 
society  everywhere.  Some  of  the  demoralizing  influences 
resulting  from  the  Revolutionary  war  and  from  contact  with 
French  infidelity  still  remained ;  political  party  spirit,  the 
animosity  between  Federalists  and  Republicans,  was  intense. 


96  Congregational  CJinrch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

exceedingly  bitter  and  often  personal ;  there  was  great  excite- 
ment throughout  the  land  occasioned  by  the  encroachments 
of  England  upon  the  rights  and  interests  of  this  nation,  in- 
creasing from  the  noted  attack  upon  the  CJiesapeakc  in  1807, 
down  to  their  culmination  in  18 12,  and  the  outbreak  of  war; 
and  in  part  as  a  consequence  of  this  state  of  things,  the  churches 
generally  were  in  a  condition  of  stagnation  and  deadness. 

Through  the  preaching  of  some  Christian  Baptist  ministers 
in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  beginning  with  1805,  and  the 
interest  awakened  in  their  meetings,  (which  resulted  in  the 
formation  of  the  Christian  society  in  1808),  our  parish  was 
somewhat  weakened,  and  the  congregation  diminished  in 
numbers,  near  the  close  of  Mr.  Webster's  pastorate. 

REV.    MR.    WEBSTER'S    PASTORATE. 

We  have  however  the  testimony  of  some  of  those  who 
were  his  parishioners,  that  he  was  an  acceptable  and  inter- 
esting preacher,  a  zealous  christian  leader,  exerting  all  his 
energies  for  the  promotion  of  godliness  in  the  community 
and  greatly  beloved  by  his  church  and  people. 

At  Mr.  Webster's  settlement  here  there  were  forty-seven 
members  of  the  church,  only  thirteen  of  whom  were  men, 
several  of  these  quite  advanced  in  years,  and  one  of  them  a 
non-resident. 

One  of  these  aged  disciples  was  Dea.  Jonathan  Cogswell, 
at  that  time  seventy-four  years  old,  who  died  in  18 1 2  aged 
eighty-six.  Another  of  just  about  the  same  age  was  Capt. 
Aaron  Foster,  a  soldier  at  the  taking  of  Louisbourg  in  1745 
and  a  member  of  the  church  from  the  year  1763,  who  lived 
to  the  age  of  eighty-seven. 

Almost  the  only  other  man  active  in  religious  matters  was 
Dea.  Grover  Dodge,  a  native  of  Hamilton  but  a' resident  of 
this  town  from  his  youth,  always  and  universally  respected 
as  a  citizen,  a  convert  in  the  great  revival  of  1763,  acting  as 
deacon  from  1812  till  1821    and   later,  a  consistent  christian, 


Tivo  Hundredth  Anniversary.  97 

'an  Israelite  indeed  in  whom  was  no  guile,'  through  a  long 
life  which  ended  in  183 1. 

Among  the  substantial  and  influential  men  in  the  parish  in 
this  earlier  part  of  the  century,  mention  should  be  made  in 
particular  of  three.  One  of  these  was  Mr.  David  Choate,  a 
soldier  in  the  Revolution,  always  deeply  interested  in  the 
cause  of  education  and  a  successful  school  teacher,  and  often 
chosen  to  fill  places  of  responsibility  and  trust  as  a  man  of 
unswerving  integrity  and  weight  of  character.  Though  not 
a  member  of  the  church,  he  gave  during  the  latter  part  of 
his  life  strong  evidence  of  possessing  a  genuine  christian 
spirit.  Soon  after  his  death  in  1808  at  the  age  of  fifty-one, 
Dr.  Mussey  wrote : 

"Mr.  Choate  was  a  man  of  uncommon  intellectual  endowments.  Though 
denied  the  advantages  of  a  regular  education  he  arrived  at  a  degree  of  im- 
provement often  unattained  by  men  of  the  first  opportunities,  and  possessed 
talents  which  would  have  been  an  honor  to  a  statesman.  In  the  social 
circle  none  were  his  superiors.  He  lived  the  friend  and  supporter  of  virtue 
and  order,  and  died  in  hope  of  a  happier  state  through  the  mercy  of  a 
Redeemer." 

Another  was  Col.  Jonathan  Cogswell,  Sen.,  an  officer  in 
the  Revolution,  who  died  in  18 19  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine. 
A  sketch  of  him  written  soon  after  his  death  describes  him  as 

"A  useful  citizen  and  magistrate,  a  devout  christian  and  an  excellent 
man.  In  public  life  he  manifested  a  sound  judgment  and  unshaken  integ- 
rity and  executed  every  trust  with  scrupulous  fidelity.  Free  from  all  ap- 
pearance of  selfishness,  the  happiness  of  others  seemed  the  study  of  his 
life.  His  religion,  as  it  had  been  the  guide  of  his  youth,  became  the  com- 
fort of  his  age.  The  poor  man's  gratitude  acknowledged  his  benevolence 
and  the  uniform  uprightness  of  his  department  declared  his  fervent  piety." 

Still  a  third  was  George  Choate,  Esq.,  a  man  who  also  gave 
his  hearty  and  constant  support  to  the  institutions  of  religion  ; 
and  who  held  various  parish  offices  —  that  of  treasurer  for  a 
number  of  years  ending  with  his  death  in  1826,  when  he  was 
at  the  age  of  sixty-four.  As  a  citizen,  magistrate,  town- 
is 


98  Congregatio7ial  CJnirch  and  Parish^  Essex. 

officer  and  legislator  he  deservedly  enjoyed  the  highest  confi- 
dence and  respect  of  his  fellow-townsmen  ;  and  his  name  has 
been  perpetuated  and  adorned  by  his  son,  Dr.  George  Choate 
the  eminent  physician  in  Salem  for  a  long  period,  and  by 
his  still  more  distinguished  grandsons  of  the  same  profession 
and  at  the  bar,  of  the  present  generation. 

During  Mr.  Webster's  seven  years'  ministry,  twenty-one 
persons  united  with  the  church.  One  of  the  eight  men  was 
Dr.  Reuben  D.  Mussey,  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College  in 
1803  and  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine  here  from  1805 
through  1808,  who  filled  for  a  time  the  office  of  church  clerk 
and  was  a  member  of  the  Sabbath  choir — a  skilful  player 
upon  the  bass-viol.  The  late  President  Lord  of  Dartmouth 
College  wrote  of  him  : 

"He  was  sometimes  brusque  in  his  manner,  but  he  had  heavenly  music 
in  his  soul.  A  discord  or  an  untimely  movement  fretted  him.  But  when, 
as  sometimes  in  the  congregation  or  the  social  circle,  a  glorious  harmony 
went  up,  then  the  strain  rose  from  his,  as  if  impassioned  viol,  in  enlivening 
concert;  and  his  chastened  spirit  seemed  to  go  with  it,  into  communion 
with  the  choir  above." 

After  further  special  study  in  Philadelphia  and  the  prose- 
cution of  his  profession  in  Salem  five  years,  he  was  a  professor 
in  the  Medical  Schools  of  Dartmouth  and  Bowdoin  Colleges 
and  at  Cincinnati,  O.,  in  succession.  He  then  founded  and 
lectured  in  the  Miami  Medical  School  six  years ;  and  after 
thus  spending  forty-six  years  in  medical  instruction  lived  in 
retirement  in  Boston  until  his  death  in  1866,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-six. 

It  is  certainly  an  interesting  fact  to  us  and  to  this  commu- 
nity which  he  several  times  revisited  in  his  later  life,  that  this 
eminent  physician,  among  the  foremost  in  his  profession  in 
scientific  knowledge  and  skill,  began  his  religious  life,  a  young 
man  of  twenty-five  years  of  age,  while  practising  his  profes- 
sion in  this  parish ;  that  such  a  surgeon,  attaining  a  national 
reputation,  "who"  as  his  biographer  —  a  distinguished  medical 


Two  HtuidredtJi  Anniversary.  99 

professor — states,  ''believed  much  in  skilled  surgery,  some- 
thing in  nature  but  most  of  all  in  God,  so  that  on  the  eve  of 
a  great  operation  he  frequently  knelt  at  the  bed-side  of  the 
patient  and  sought  skill  and  strength  and  success  from  the 
great  source  of  all  vitality,"  first  bowed  the  knee  in  social 
prayer  with  the  members,  few  though  they  were,  of  this  Che- 
bacco  church  ;  that  the  strong  and  noble  character  of  the 
man,  whom  the  same  writer  describes  as  "a  devoted  member 
and  officer  of  the  church  all  his  days,  a  constant  observer  of 
the  Sabbath,  an  earnest  defender  and  propagator  of  the  faith, 
a  gratuitous  adviser  and  benefactor  of  the  poor,"  was  nurtured 
in  its  early  unfolding  and  growth  under  the  influences  of  the 
sanctuary  and  the  people  of  God  in  this  village. 

Two  others  who  were  active,  working  members  of  the  church, 
forsaking  not  the  ways  of  Zion,  in  those  days  when  few  came 
to  her  solemn  feasts,  were  Mr.  John  Mears,  a  native  of  Che- 
bacco  (born  June  20,  1777),  converted  under  Mr.  Webster's 
preaching,  steadfast  and  faithful  in  sustaining  the  social  relig- 
ious meetings  of  the  church,  keeping  up  almost  to  the  time  of 
his  death,  (Sept.  7,  1865  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight),  his  regu- 
lar attendance  upon  the  Sabbath  services  though  in  his  later 
years  totally  blind,  exceedingly  painstaking  in  the  religious 
training  of  his  children,  —  all  but  one  of  the  ten  of  them  who 
reached  maturity  entering  the  church  in  their  early  years, — 
and  Mr.  Nathan  Burnham,  a  man  of  very  much  the  same 
stamp,  quiet  and  undemonstrative  but  a  pillar  in  the  sacred 
temple,  not  often  making  exhortations  but  frequently  taking 
part  very  acceptable  in  the  devotional  exercises  of  church- 
meetings,  especially  active  in  times  of  religious  interest  later 
on,  and  a  deacon  from  1821  until  his  death  in  i860  at  the 
age  of  eighty-four. 

All  honor  to  the  memory  of  these  few  who  guarded  and 
bore  onward  the  ark  of  the  Lord,  almost  alone,  down  to  about 
the  year  181  5,  when  the  voice  of  war  was  again  hushed  and 
peace  reigned  throughout  our  borders. 


lOO  Congregational  Church  and  ParisJi,  Essex. 

THE    REVIVALS    OF    RELIGION. 

Prior  to  that  date  we  have  record  of  only  three  marked 
and  extensive  revivals  of  religion  in  the  entire  history  of  the 
church,  —  in  1727,  1741  and  1763 — which  have  been  already 
mentioned. 

Of  the  six  of  which  the  community  has  had  experience 
since  then,  four  took  place  during  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Robert 
Crowell  which  extended  forty-one  years,  from  Aug.  10,  18 14, 
when  there  -were  only  six  male  members  of  the  church  and 
thirty-two  in  all,  to  his  death,  Nov.  10,  1855. 

On  the  third  of  the  next  January  after  his  ordination  the 
church  voted  to  hold  a  meeting  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  every 
month  for  prayer  and  religious  conversation,  at  the  house 
of  the  pastor,  at  which  some  of  the  topics  considered  were : 
"the  nature  and  duty  of  prayer,"  "the  church  covenant  as  a 
rule  of  duty,"  and  "the  importance  of  religious  instruction 
for  children  and  youth," 

From  the  church  records  it  appears  that  the  very  next 
month  after  that,  some  religious  interest  began  to  manifest 
itself  which  continued  more  than  two  years ;  one  or  two  per- 
sons at  least,  (not  members  of  the  church)  attending  at  many 
of  the  meetings  for  religious  conversation  or  to  relate  their 
experience  and  ask  admission  to  the  church.  Under  date 
of  March  10,  18 16,  mention  is  made  of  the  admission  of  two 
persons  to  the  church  and  the  record  reads  : 

"The  assembly  appears  solemn.  May  the  Lord  sanctify  the  solemn  scene 
to  the  conviction  and  conversion  of  others." 

And  under  date  of  June  3d: 

'•The  church  met  to  unite  in  the  general  concert  of  prayer,  as  well  as 
for  mutual  conversation.  A  fevvr  present  not  church  members,  who  con- 
versed on  the  state  of  their  minds,  some  of  them  under  concern,  and  some 
having  obtained  a  hope  though  not  free  from  all  doubt.  The  Lord  grant 
that  a  plentiful  shower  may  succeed  these  mercy  drops." 

The  number  of  persons  gathered  into  the  church  during 
this  time  up  to  June,  181 7   was  nineteen.     Whether  the  six 


Two  Hu  11  drcdtJi  A  n  n  ivcrsa  ry.  i  o  i 

admitted  to  the  church  in  the  two  years  following  should  also 
be  reckoned  among  the  fruits  oi  this  first  revival,  I  am  unable 
to  say. 

One  of  those  who  united  with  the  church  in  1817  was  Capt. 
Samuel  Burnham  (born  Oct.  28,  1787)  who  was  superinten- 
dent of  the  Sabbath  School  from  18 18  till  1837  and  ever 
after  a  teacher  in  it,  was  the  treasurer  of  the  church  from  1 82 1 
till  1 868,  was  elected  deacon  in  1828  and  served  in  that  office 
until  his  death  Nov.  18,  1873  at  the  age  of  eighty-six.  For 
a  long  series  of  years  he  regularly  conducted  the  Sabbath 
morning  prayer-meeting  in  the  chapel  and  the  Tuesday  eve- 
ning meeting  from  the  first  establishment  of  those  services, 
and  never  failed  in  untiring  devotion  and  efficiency  in  the 
discharge  of  these  and  all  the  many  responsible  trusts  assigned 
to  him  by  the  church, — a  sincere,  useful,  godly  man. 

The  second  of  these  periods  of  special  religious  interest 
began  in  September,  1827  and  (like  its  predecessor)  imme- 
diately after  a  special  meeting  of  the  church,  on  the  first 
Sabbath  evening  of  that  month,  to  pray  for  the  effusion  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  It  continued  about  nine  months.  Before 
the  end  of  the  first  month  the  church  clerk  entered  this  min- 
ute upon  the  records:  "Such  an  attention  to  the  things  of 
eternity  has  become  apparent,  as  has  not  been  witnessed 
within  the  memory  of  any  but  the  aged."  And  in  May,  1828, 
he  made  record  that  "the  Sabbath  morning  prayer  meeting, 
the  Thursday  evening  lecture,  the  inquiry  and  church  prayer- 
meetings  on  Tuesday  evening,  and  either  public  or  private 
prayer-meetings  on  Saturday  evening  are  all  maintained  and 
with  much  interest,  solemnity  and  feeling;"  and  during  this 
and  the  two  following  years  more  than  eighty  persons  united 
with  the  church,  a  large  majority  of  them  young  married 
men  and  women,  who  constituted  to  a  very  great  extent  the 
working  force  of  the  church  for  the  next  thirty  years. 

Among  them  all,  mention  may  perhaps  be  properly  made 
by  name  of  Capt.   Francis  Burnham,  to  whom  the  spiritual 


102  Congregational  Chnrch  and  ParisJi,  Essex. 

change  of  that  revival  brought  a  revokition  in  religious  belief 
and  the  beginning  of  a  life  of  most  unvarying  devotion  to 
duty.  In  the  use  of  his  vigorous  powers  of  mind  and  his 
possessions  alike,  he  realized  in  an  unusual  degree  the  idea 
of  stewardship  to  his  divine  Master.  A  diligent  student  of 
the  Bible,  giving  daily  and  earnest  thought  to  its  teachings, 
his  intellectual  gifts  were  exercised  in  the  Sabbath  School, 
and  often  in  the  prayer-meeting,  with  great  interest  and  profit 
to  those  who  listened. 

A  prosperous  man  through  close  attention  to  his  business, 
he  was  conscientiously  and  heartily  liberal  in  giving  of  his 
substance  to  all  worthy  charitable  objects,  and  especially  to 
Home  and  Foreign  missions  ;  and  from  a  moderate  estate,  he 
left  at  his  death  in  legacies  to  ten  different  benevolent  socie- 
ties the  sum  of  $ii,ooo  in  all,  besides  $500  each  to  this 
church  and  parish. 

Always  at  his  post  of  Christian  service  he  used  the  office 
of  a  deacon  well,  being  found  blameless,  from  his  election  to 
it  in  1834,  until  his  death  Sept.  16,  1871,  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years  and  eleven  months. 

Another  of  those  who  entered  upon  the  religious  life  at 
that  time  was  Mr.  John  Choate,  a  man  always  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  the  parish,  sometimes  serving  it  in  responsible 
trusts,  widely  known  to  the  community,  as  was  written  of  him 
soon  after  his  death,  Oct.  18,  1863,  "for  his  great  originality 
of  character,  for  his  integrity  and  sterling  value  as  a  public 
man  as  well  as  for  the  virtues  which  adorned  his  private  life." 
Though,  through  a  certain  diffidence,  not  much  given  to  pub- 
lic speaking  of  any  kind,  he  was  a  man  of  decided  Christian 
principle,  who  reflected  much  and  deeply  upon  the  great 
truths  of  revelation  and  derived  the  strongest  consolation 
from  the  faith  he  professed,  to  the  end  of  his  life.  One  of 
his  striking  remarks  once  made  to  a  friend,  was  that  "as  he 
sometimes  stood  and  looked  upon  the  broad  sheet  of  water 
adjoining  the  islands  which  constituted  his  farm,  in  some  calm 


Two  Hundredth  A 


luiiversary.  103 


morning  when  the  whole  surface  was  Hke  a  mirror,  it  gave 
him,  as  he  thought,  a  good  idea  of  the  full  ocean  of  God's 
love,  in  which  the  soul  of  the  Christian  would  lave  itself  after 
the  winds  and  storms  of  life  were  over." 

The  tJiird  revival  was  in  1839  when  about  twenty-five  per- 
sons w^ere  hopefully  converted ;  and  the  foiirtJi,  in  the  years 
1849  and  1850,  in  which  about  thirty  were  brought  into  the 
church,  most  of  them  members  of  the  Sabbath  School ;  and 
of  this  spiritual  harvest  the  seed  was  apparently  the  Assem- 
bly's Catechism,  in  a  thorough  study  of  which  large  numbers 
had  been  spending  the  preceding  summer,  learning  by  heart 
this  summary  of  Christian  doctrine  for  the  prize  of  a  bible 
offered  by  the  church. 

The  fifth  of  this  series  of  revivals  occurred  in  the  year 
1857,  soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  ministry  of  Rev.  James 
M.  Bacon,  who,  —  after  a  pastorate  in  Littleton  from  1846  to 
1849,  and  in  Amesbury  from  1851  to  1855 — was  installed 
over  this  church  July  6,  1856. 

"Entering  upon  this  pastorate,"  writes  Rev.  Dr.  Wellman,  "at  the  age  of 
thirty-eight,  matured  in  christian  character  bv  protracted  and  severe  dis- 
cipline, enriched  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ  and  his  gospel  and  in  that 
pastoral  wisdom  which  can  come  only  from  long  experience  in  dealing 
with  all  classes  of  people,  he  was  fitted,  as  never  before,  for  the  work  of 
the  christian  ministry.  Without  anj  parade  of  plans  or  promises,  he  met 
his  people  face  to  face,  and  talked  to  them  plainly  and  earnestly,  as  became 
a  man  sent  from  God,  'of  sin  and  of  righteousness  and  of  judgment.' 
It  was  like  'the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  Prepare  ye  the  way 
of  the  Lord.'  He  was  emphatically  a  preacher  of  righteousness  :  at  the 
same  time  he  tenderly  pointed  his  hearers  to  Christ,  and  assured  them,  as 
if  they  had  never  heard  the  message  before,  that  they  could  become  recon- 
ciled to  God  and  be  saved  only  as  they  accepted  Jesus  as  their  Lord  and 
Saviour.  And  soon  the  spiritual  power  of  his  labors  was  manifest;  all 
classes  were  moved,  and  during  the  winter  and  spring  of  the  second  year 
of  his  pastorate  the  town  was  blessed  with  a  powerful  revival  of  religion. 
About  fifty  persons,  converts  in  this  revival,  united  with  the  church."* 

Of  Mr.  Bacon's  interest  in  young  men  and  his  influence 
in  leading  several  of  them  to  devote  themselves  to  the  Chris- 

*  Biographical  sketch  by  Rev.  J.  W.  Wellman,  D.D.,  in  The  Congrega- 
tional Quarterly,  Vol.  xvii,  No.  3. 


104  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

tian  ministry,  of  his  patriotic  zeal  and  his  prayers  for  the 
sons  of  his  people  in  the  army,  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion, 
or  of  the  ardent  piety,  the  singleness  of  aim,  the  self-sacrificing 
devotion,  the  honest  and  faithful  preaching  of  this  servant  of 
Christ,  you  have  no  need  that  I  speak,  for  it  is  all  in  your 
memories  and  your  hearts. 

On  account  of  ill  health,  Mr.  Bacon  closed  his  labors 
here  July  8,  1869.  He  was  afterwards  pastor  of  the  church 
in  Ashby  from  1870  until  his  death  March  5,  1873. 

The  ministers  of  the  church  since  Mr.  Bacon's  dismission 
have  been  Rev.  Darius  A.  Moorehouse,  installed  June  30, 
1870,  and  dismissed  Sept.  14,  1874;  Rev.  Edward  G.  Smith, 
installed  July  15,  1875,  and  dismissed  Feb.  8,  1877;  Rev, 
John  L.  Harris,  acting  pastor  for  one  year  from  May  i,  1877; 
Rev.  Francis  H.  Boynton,  installed  Dec.  11,  1879,  and  dis- 
missed May  18,  1882;  Rev.  Frank  H.  Palmer,  acting  pastor 
since  Oct.  i,  1882. 

The  sixth  and  most  recent  revival  of  this  century  took 
place  during  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Mr.  Smith,  in  1875-6,  and 
brought  into  the  church  forty-one  members. 

2.  The  second  thing  especially  noticeable  in  the  history 
of  this  church  and  parish,  during  the  last  seventy  years,  is 
the  religious  activity  of  their  members  in  a  great  variety  of 
ways,  a  few  of  which  it  may  be  proper  to  enumerate. 

One  instance  of  the  outworking  of  this  spirit  of  religious 
enterprise,  we  find,  in  the  provision  made  in  1820  for  a  suit- 
able place  (which  down  to  that  time  had  been  lacking)  for 
the  social  religious  meetings  and  other  gatherings  of  the 
church  and  society.  For  this  purpose  some  members  of  the 
parish, — prominent  among  whom  were  Messrs.  Joseph  Choate, 
John  Dexter  and  William  Andrews,  Jr.,  —  took  upon  them- 
selves the  care  and  expense  of  erecting  a  chapel,  which  was 
dedicated  with  appropriate  religious  services  in  December  of 
that  year. 

In  one  of  its  rooms  adapted  to  that  use,  the  liberality  of 


Tzvo  Hinidredth  Anniversary.  105 

others  deposited,  the  very  next  year,  a  church  Hbrary  which 
had  its  beginning  in  181 5  in  one  hundred  volumes  of  books 
presented  by  a  number  of  donors  to  the  church.  This 
gradually  increased  in  size  until  it  numbered  more  than  two 
hundred  volumes  of  standard  theological  and  other  religious 
works  and  was  for  many  years  a  source  of  much  interest  and 
instruction  to  a  considerable  portion  of  the  members  of  the 
church. 


INTEREST    IN    MISSIONS. 

In  this  building  also,  from  the  first  opening  of  it,  was  held 
the  monthly  missionary  concert,  (which  had  been  omitted 
for  some  time  for  want  of  a  convenient  place  to  meet  in  and 
which  just  about  the  year  1820  began  to  be  observed  generally 
in  the  churches),  and  the  meetings  of  a  society  organized 
in  1826  for  the  special  support  of  the  cause  of  missions. 

Following  if  not  directly  stimulated  by  this  development 
of  an  interest  in  christian  work  among  the  heathen  was  the 
awakening  of  a  deeper  regard  for  Home  missions,  leading  to 
practical  efforts  for  the  cultivation  of  waste  places  near  at 
hand.  To  the  establishment  and  support  of  the  Congrega- 
tional churches  in  Lanesville  and  Gloucester  Harbor  liberal 
contributions  were  statedly  made  for  a  long  period. 

Many  "shares,"  as  the  gifts  in  money  were  called,  were 
taken  in  the  new  meeting-house  in  West  Gloucester  in  1833  ; 
and  to  the  newly  organized  church  there,  which  consisted  at 
first  only  of  women,  two  of  our  members,  Messrs.  John  Choate 
and  John  S.  Burnham  were  regularly  dismissed  to  become 
its  deacons.  They  officiated  in  that  capacity  several  years, 
until,  through  the  blessing  of  God  upon  that  Home  missionary 
endeavor  in  the  increase  of  that  church,  their  services  were 
no  longer  required. 

For  the  promotion  of  various  Christian  objects  that  chapel 
proved  an  exceedingly  serviceable  structure  for  twenty  years, 


io6  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

until  the  remodeling  of  the  meeting-house  in  1842  furnished 
more  commodious  apartments  for  these  same  ends. 

Another  illustration  of  this  forwardness  for  religious  work 
which  prevailed,  and  of  the  steadfastness  in  it,  is  found  in  a 
vote  of  the  church  in  a  time  of  religious  interest  in  1828, 
appointing  a  large  committee  to  go  forth  two  by  two,  to  visit 
the  families  of  the  parish,  for  the  purpose  of  conversing  with 
them  on  the  necessity  of  giving  immediate  attention  to  the 
subject  of  religion,  and  a  vote  a  few  days  later  that  the  whole 
church  be  a  committee  for  that  purpose ;  as  also  in  the  can- 
vassing of  the  town  in  1835  to  see  what  proportion  of  the  in- 
habitants attended  no  religious  meeting  on  the  Sabbath.     , 

THE  TUESDAY  EVENING  PRAYER  MEETING. 

But  it  especially  appears  in  the  establishment,  in  1828,  of 
the  Tuesday  evening  prayer-meeting,  held  at  the  houses  of 
many  of  the  church  members  in  turn,  in  different  parts  of 
the  parish,  for  along  series  of  years,  and  of  late  in  the  confer- 
ence room  of  the  church. 

This  meeting,  sustained  wholly  by  laymen  already  for 
upwards  of  half  a  century,  has  certainly  a  remarkable  record, 
as  regards  the  vigor  with  which  it  has  been  for  the  most  part 
sustained,  the  wide  range  of  doctrinal  and  practical  topics 
discussed  in  it,  the  freedom,  ability  and  originality  with  which 
they  were  often  handled,  the  suggestive,  stimulating  and 
edifying  thoughts  expressed,  the  fervent  prayers  offered, 
and  its  usefulness  in  feeding  the  flame  of  christian  feeling  and 
nourishing  the  spiritual  life  of  the  church.  In  all  these  and 
manifold  other  ways  it  has  been  accomplishing  a  great  and 
excellent  work;  and  many  who  have  attended  owe  more  than 
can  be  described  to  the  fathers  and  brothers,  among  the  dead 
and  the  living,  who  have  been  the  indefatigable  upholders 
and  the  shining  lights  of  this  social  Christian  meeting  for  devo- 
tion and  conference. 


Two  Hundredth  Anniversary.  107 

TFIE   TEMPERANCE    MOVEMENT. 

Still  a  third  form  of  this  activity  of  the  brotherhood  ap- 
peared at  the  beginning  of  the  Temperance  movement  in 
1829.  When,  after  an  address  in  the  meeting-house  July  16, 
there  was  a  call  to  organize  the  Essex  Temperance  Society 
on  the  principle  of  total  abstinence,  seven  persons  besides 
the  minister  responded  with  their  signatures  to  the  pledge ; 
whose  names,  were  Winthrop Low  (the  first  president),  Samuel 
Burnham,  John  Choate,  John  Perkins,  Jonathan  Eveleth, 
Francis  Burnham  and  David  Choate,  all  members  of  this 
parish,  and  all  but  one,  members  of  the  church.  Within  a 
year  following,  besides  the  twenty-nine  ladies  who  enrolled 
their  names,  there  were  eleven  men,  all  of  this  parish,  and  all 
but  two  of  them,  church  members,  who  also  signed  the  pledge. 

Although  at  first  there  was  strong  and  bitter  opposition, 
the  members  of  the  society  were  full  of  zeal;  they  procured 
lecturers  on  the  subject  and  carried  the  reform  steadily  onward, 
until  public  sentiment  was  completely  revolutionized.  As 
early  as  1833,  so  great  was  its  influence,  that  the  town  voted 
"no  license;"  and  soon  an  advance  was  made  to  abstinence 
from  fermented  liquors. 

THE    SABBATH    SCHOOL. 

By  far  the  most  important  kind  of  practical  work,  however, 
in  which  the  Christian  spirit  of  a  large  number  of  the  men  and 
women  of  this  church  has  found  scope  for  its  exercise,  has 
been  the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  religious  training 
of  the  children  and  youth  in  the  Sabbath  school,  which  was 
first  established  in  18 14  but  the  conduct  of  which  was  for  so 
long  a  period  of  time  in  the  hands  of  Hon.  David  Choate.* 

A  deacon  in  the  church  from  1828  until  his  death  Dec.  17, 
1872,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six,  and  its  clerk  for  forty  years, 

*A  biographical  sketch  of  Dea.  Choate  was  published  in  The  Congre- 
gational Quarterly,    Vol.  xvii.  No.  4. 


io8  Congregatio7ial  CJnircJi   and  Parish,  Essex. 

the  particular  form  of  service  for  the  church  in  which  he  took 
the  greatest  deHght  and  to  which  he  devoted  his  best  energies 
was  the  management  of  this  institution,  the  superintendence 
of  which  from  his  appointment  to  it  in  1837,  he  held  through 
a  long  life,  and  to  which  he  imparted  the  peculiar  character 
for  which  it  has  been  so  widely  known,  largely  by  the  general 
exercise  he  introduced,  in  which  he  himself  reviewed  and 
commented  upon  the  important  points  of  the  lessons  statedly 
assigned.  Into  this  informal  instruction  he  entered  with  a 
o;enuine  enthusiasm.  So  well  did  he  know^  the  avenues  to  the 
youthful  mind  and  heart  and  with  such  tact  could  he  address 
himself  to  those  who  were  older,  that  his  expositions  of  the 
word  of  God  were  "like  apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver," 
or  '*as  nails  fastened  by  the  masters  of  assemblies."  Discern- 
ing well  that  "the  imagination  is  the  grand  organ  by  which 
the  truth  can  make  successful  approaches  to  the  mind,"  he 
would  so  picture  a  Bible  scene,  sketch  one  of  its  characters, 
or  illumine  whatever  particular  truth  was  under  consideration, 
that  his  hearers  could  not  fail  to  comprehend  and  to  carry 
away   a  lasting    impression. 

This  general  exercise,  however,  was  not  confined  to  the 
lesson  for  the  day,  but  had  great  variety  given  to  it  in  many 
ways  and  thus  became  the  distinguishing  feature  of  the 
school,  sustaining  and  deepening  the  interest  of  all  who  were 
connected,  with  it,  binding  them  together  like  members  of  one 
family  and  becoming  a  most  effective  means  of  religious 
training. 

The  Sabbath  school  has  been  always  large  in  numbers  ;  it 
has  been  noted  for  the  system  with  which  it  has  been  con- 
ducted and  its  liberal  gifts  to  benevolent  objects ;  but  its  real 
excellence  has  lain  in  its  remarkable  powder  to  mould  the 
characters  of  those  who  have  grown  up  under  its  influence. 
It  has  set  upon  them  its  impress  like  the  seal  upon  wax. 

One  proof  of  this,  which  may  be  appropriately  referred  to 
here,  is  found   in   the  sienificant  fact  that  most  if  not  all  of 


Tivo  Hundredth  Anniversary.  109 

those  who  have  been  actively  engaged  in  these  various  forms 
of  Christian  work,  which  have  pecuHarly  characterized  the 
last  seventy  years,  received  their  own  religious  training  in 
this  nursery  of  the  church.  Among  them  (in  addition  to 
those  already  mentioned)  may  be  named  Messrs.  Uriah  G. 
Spofford,  John  S.  Burnham,  Jeremiah  Cogswell,  Nathan 
Burnham,  3d,  Moses  Perkins  and  Robert  W.  Burnham,  to- 
gether with  the  present  officers  and  other  members  of  the 
church. 

A  full  exhibition  of  the  history  and  work  of  the  School 
during  its  first  fifty  years  has  fortunately  been  preserved  in 
the  elaborate,  complete  and  exceedingly  interesting  historical 
address  delivered  by  Superintendent  Choate  at  its  semi  cen- 
tennial anniversary,  which  was  celebrated  by  public  exercises, 
Dec.  26,  1864. 

While  each  of  these  three  periods  in  the  history  of  this 
church,  over  which  we  have  cast  our  backward  glance,  is  thus 
seen  to  have  its  peculiar  characteristics  and  its  special  mission, 
while  there  is  exhibited  to  us  through  the  records  of  each 
era  in  turn  the  foundation  work  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  reconstructive  and  uplifting  work  of  the  eighteenth  century 
and  the  Sabbath  School  and  other  Christian  work  of  the  laity 
in  the  nineteenth  century,  yet  we  can  also  see  as  we  trace  the 
thread  of  events,  as  we  gather  up  and  examine  the  various  in- 
cidents falling  under  our  notice  along  the  pathway  we  have 
taken  and  picture  to  ourselves  the  differing  scenes  bright  or 
dark,  by  passing  through  which  this  church  has  been  cheered 
or  chastened,  that  these  periods  are  only  successive  stages, — 
the  infancy,  youth  and  maturity — of  one  and  the  same  life, 
which  ''vital  in  every  part  cannot  but  by  annihilating  die,"  and 
which  may  never  grow  old,  but  by  waiting  upon  the  Lord 
may  ever  renew  its  strength. 

And  it  is  the  underlying  and  unchanging,  substantial  quali- 
ties of  this  life,  first  and  foremost  the  loving  spirit  of  Jesus 
the  Lord  with  which  this  church  has  ever  been  inspired,  the 


no  Congregational  ChiircJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

strength  of  its  faith  and  the  truth  of  its  creed  attested  by  its 
fruitfulness  in  all  good  works,  the  scriptural  simplicity  of  its 
church  order  and  the  purity  and  power  of  its  pulpit,  which  have 
made  it  to  so  great  a  degree  the  conservative,  elevating,  puri- 
fying element  in  society,  and  which  therefore  demand  on  this 
commemoration-day  the  tribute  of  our  deepest  reverence 
and  our  warmest  affection  and  gratitude. 

This  life  of  the  church,  however,  really  consists  in  the 
life  of  its  individual  members.  And  so  it  is  the  piety  and 
devotion,  the  ability  and  learning  of  its  ministers  ;  it  is  the 
long  line  and  the  solid  column  of  its  laymen  of  vigorous 
minds,  with  their  diversity  of  gifts  but  animated  by  the 
same  spirit,  rock-like  in  the  solidity  of  their  Christian  prin- 
ciple, thrifty  '*as  the  trees  of  lignaloes  which  the  Lord  hath 
planted,"  flourishing  and  fruitful  even  in  old  age ;  it  is  the 
goodly  company  of  saintly  women,  whose  lives  have  been 
like  an  alabaster  box  of  precious  ointment,  broken  and  poured 
out  at  the  feet  of  their  Divine  Lord  in  consecration  to  His 
service,  in  their  approving  themselves  in  all  things  as  servants 
of  God,  by  pureness,  by  love  unfeigned,  by  the  armor  of 
righteousness,  and  by  the  almsdeeds  which  they  have  done  ;  — 
Yes,  it  is  the  dear  fathers  and  mothers,  your  ancesters  and 
mine,  who  wrought  their  very  being  into  this  church  and 
brought  us  under  its  benign  and  blessed  influences,  before 
whose  memories  we  rise  up  to-day  in  reverence  and  honor, 
and  for  whom,  on  this  occasion,  we  have  reason  for  giving 
our  humble  and  most  hearty  thanks  to  Him  who  is  the  head 
over  all  things  to  the  church. 

Six  generations  of  this  host  have  already  crossed  the  flood. 
Many  of  those  with  whom  our  own  lives  are  linked  by  holiest 
ties  and  precious  recollections  have  vanished  out  of  our  sight, 
though  they  still  seem  to  hover  about  us,  and  we  now  and 
then  instinctively  turn  to  behold  the  faces  and  hear  the  voices 
of  those  we  have  so  loved  and  revered ;  and  with  reference 
to  them  we  must  use  the  poet's  words : 


Tivo  HuudrcdtJi  Anniversary.  I  i  i 

"Look  where  we  may,  the  wide  earth  o'er, 
Those  lighted  faces  smile  no  more. 
We  tread  the  paths  their  feet  have  worn, 
We  sit  beneath  the  orchard  trees, 
We  hear,  like  them,  the  hum  of  bees 
And  rustle  of  the  bearded  corn ; 
Their  written  words  we  linger  o'er. 
But  in  the  sun  they  cast  no  shade, 
No  voice  is  heard,  no  sign  is  made, 
No  step  is  on  the  conscious  floor." 

Yet,  of  all  these  faithful  followers  of  a  divine  Master  who 
came  among  men  not  to  be  ministered  unto  but  to  minister, 
of  them  all  whose  ambition  was  righteousness  and  Christian 
service,  it  may  in  truth  be  said  that  though  they  had  none  of 
that  renown  among  men  which  has  been  compared  to  "a  snow- 
flake  on  hot  water,  a  touch  and  it's  vanished,"  for  "the  brighest 
names  that  earth  can  boast  just  glisten  and  are  gone,"  still 
their  works  do  follow  them.  Such  characters  of  spiritual 
strength  and  beauty,  as  they  were  fashioned  into,  are  and  always 
will  be  a  living  force  in  the  community,  in  themselves  a  ben- 
efaction to  the  world  around  them  of  substantial  and  perma- 
nent value. 


flDDI^ESS  ON  I^EY.  ^OHN  03lSB. 

BY  REY.  H.  M.  DEXTER,  D.  D.,  OF  BOSTON. 

There  seem  to  have  been  four  classes  among  the  early  set- 
tlers of  the  Massachusetts  Colony.  There  were  first,  those 
who  paid  for  their  passage,  and  stood  in  the  same  relation  as 
if  original  subscribers  of  ^^50  to  the  common  stock ;  second, 
those  contributing  skill  in  art  or  trade,  who  received  remuner- 
ative in  money  or  land ;  third,  those  who  exhausted  their 
humble  ability  in  paying  a  part  of  their  expenses,  agreeing 
to  earn  the  rest  here ;  and,  fourth,  those  who  came  distinctly 
as  indentured  serving-men,  who,  in  return,  were  held  to  labor 
for  a  term  of  years  ;  having  a  claim  the  while  for  support 
from  their  masters.  This  last  class  was,  possibly,  more  num- 
erous than  has  been  always  understood.  Thomas  Dudley  in  his 
Letter  to  the  Countess  of  Lincoln,  of  date  12-22  Mar.  1630*, 
says  that  when  Winthrop's  company  arrived,  in  the  summer 
before,  they  found  the  condition  of  those  who  had  been  sent 
over  in  the  previous  two  years  so  straitened  and  grievous, 
that,  lacking  provisions,  they  were  obliged  to  cancel  the  in- 
dentures of  all  who  remained  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  such 
serving-men,  although  it  had  cost  from  £\6  to  ;^20  apiece  to 
bring  them  over. 

Such  serving-men  naturally  came  from  humble  homes,  but 
many  of  them  were  worthy  and  faithful ;  and  they,  or  their 
children,  rose  to  respectability  and  usefulness  in  the  common- 
wealth. 

♦Young's  Chronicles  of  Mass.     311. 
15 


114  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

In  Winthrop's  Company  was  one  George  Alcock,  who  had 
married  the  sister  of  Thomas   Hooker,*  who  was  a  physician 
and  deacon  ;  of  whom  John  Ehot  left  on  the  Roxbury  church- 
book  the  loving  and  creditable  record,  thatij  "he  lived  in  a 
good  and  godly  sort,  and  dyed  in  the  end  of  the  loth  month 
ano.  1640,  and  left  a  good  savor  behind  him  ;  the  Pore  of  the 
church  much  bewailing  his  losse."     In  the  ten  years  of  his 
New  England  life  Dr.  Alcock  made  two  voyages  to  England, 
in  the  latter  of  which,  probably,|  he  brought  over,  as  an  in- 
dentured attendant  of  the  fourth  class  referred  to,  one  Joseph 
Wise.     Making  his  will  a  few  days  before  his  death,  he  inser- 
ted this  clause  :§  "to  my  servant  Joseph  Wise  [I  give]  my 
young  heifer,  &  the  rest  of  his   time    from  after  mid-somer 
next."     Joseph  made  so  good  use  of  his  time,  not  to  mention 
the  heifer,  that  a  little  inside  of  five  months  [3-13  Dec.  1641] 
after  the  midsummer  in  question,  he  married  Mary  Thompson.  || 
In  the  nearly  three-and-forty  years  between  that  date  and  his 
death,  12-22  September  1684,  thirteen  children  from  his  house- 
hold were  baptized  in  Roxbury,  to  wit;**  Joseph,  Jeremiah, 
Sarah,    Mary,    John,    Henry,    Bethia,    Katharine,   Benjamin, 
William,  Benjamin   (again),  Abigail  and  Jeremiah  (the  sec- 
ond).   John,  third  son  and  fifth  child,  was  baptized  15-25  July 
1652,  just  five  months  and  eight  days  before  the  death  of  John 
Cotton.      Thomas  Hooker  had  been  dead  five  years  and  a 
week;  John  Wilson  was  sixty-four;  Charles  Chauncy,  sixty; 
Richard   Mather,   fifty-six ;   John  Davenport,  fifty-five ;  John 
Eliot,    forty-eight ;    John    Norton,    forty-six ;    and    Increase 
Mather,  a  lad  of  thirteen,  had  been  already  a  year  in  Harvard 
College.      It  is  this  John  Wise  whom  we  are  now  to  consider. 
We  are  left  to  absolute  conjecture,  founded  upon  the  simple 

*Savage  Gen.  Diet,  i  :  21. 

fReport  of  Boston  Reeord  Commission,  18.^1.  76.     JSavage.  IV:  614. 
§N.  E.  Hist,  and  Gen.  Reg.  11  :   104.     ||  Savage  IV  :  614. 
**  Report  Rec.  Com.  1881  :    116,    117,    118,   119,   121,    122,    123,    124,125, 
126,  135. 


Two  Hundredth  A^iniversary .  i  i  5 

abstract  probabilities  of  the  case,  for  all  idea  of  his  childhood 
and  youth.  *'The  child  is  father  of  the  man,"  and  therefore 
the  man  prophesies  the  child ;  and,  as  it  is  matter  of  record* 
that,  in  his  adult  years,  this  man  **was  of  a  majestic  form,  and 
of  great  muscular  strength  and  activity,"  I  entertain  no  doubt 
that  he  was  a  stout,  sun-burned,  hardy,  vigorous,  fun-loving 
boy;  and,  as  he  started  from  the  bottom  round  of  the  social 
ladder,  that  he  worked  for  his  living,  and  got  his  pliant  mus- 
cles well-strung  and  stalwart,  by  diligent  and  untrivial  toil. 
Whatever,  in  forest,  field,  farm-buildings  or  smithy,  with  ax, 
plow,  flail,  hoe  or  hammer,  his  father  did;  that — beyond 
question  —  John  helped  him  do,  growing  hungrier,  heavier 
and  tougher,  day  by  day.  I  fancy  he  was  one  of  those  lads, 
—  some  of  us  remember  them: 

—  quae  que  ipse  mis  err  Una  vidi, 
et  quorum  pars  magna  fui. 

whom,  in  the  good  old  days  before  farming  was  reduced  to 
riding  in  a  gig  with  some  kind  of  a  plowing,  mowing  or  reap- 
ing machine  in  tow,  it  was  safe  to  send  ofl"  in  advance  with 
the  first  scythe  in  an  overlapping  series  of  mowers  ;  recog- 
nizing his  abundant  ability  not  merely  to  keep  his  own  ancles 
out  of  the  way  of  the  swinging  blades  of  his  pursuers,  but  to 
lead  them  such  a  rush  as  to  make  them  wiltingly  willing  now 
and  then  to  cry  halt,  wipe  their  brows,  make  music  with  their 
whetstones,  and  pass  the  jug. 

We  shall  never  know  through  precisely  what  agencies,  or 
by  precisely  what  influences,  this  young  man  awoke  to  the 
consciousness  that  he  had  in  him  stuff"  of  which  something 
better  for  his  generation  even  than  a  good  farmer,  or  a  cunning 
workman,  might  be  made.  I  imagine  that  he  caught  from 
the  seraphic  zeal  of  the  good  apostle  to  the  Algonkins  some 
kindling  of  desire  to  make  others  happier  and  better,  and  that 
that  keen  mind  whose  holy  business  it  was  to  watch  for  signs 
of  the    progress  of  the  Gospel  in  so  many  savage  breasts, 

*Sprague's  Annals,  i :   189. 


ii6  Co7igregational  ChiircJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

failed  not  to  discern,  and  to  stimulate,  the  beginnings  of  a 
higher  life  in  the  mind  of  a  young  parishioner  so  full  of 
promise. 

The  ''Free  Schoole  in  Roxburie"  —  still  in  vigorous  life,  and 
at  which  my  own  son  was  fitted  for  Yale  —  had  already  been 
in  existence  near  seven  years  when  John  Wise  was  born.* 
On  the  22  N0V.-2  Dec.  after  his  birth, "j  ''convenient  benches 
with  formes  with  tables,  for  the  scholars  to  sit  on  and  to  write, 
at,  with  a  convenient  seat  for  the  school  master,  and  a  deske 
to  put  the  Dictionary  on,  and  shelves  to  lay  up  bookes,"  had 
been  duly  provided  for  it.  Doubtless  our  lad  got  his  begin- 
nings at  home.  But  that,  when  qualified  to  do  so,  he  became 
at  least  an  occasional  occupant  of  one  of  these  "convenient 
seats,"  is  rendered  almost  certain  by  an  ancient  document  in 
admirable  chirography  bearing  date  25  Feb.-6Mar.,  1668-69:!:, 
in  which  it  is  agreed  between  the  six  feoffees  and  John  Prudden 
that  —  for  the  sum  of  £2^  a  year,  to  be  paid  "  three  quarters 
in  Indian  Corn,  or  Peas,  and  ye  other  fourth-parte  in  Barley, 
all  good  and  merchandable"  —  said  Prudden  shall  keep  the 
school,  and  "use  his  best  skill  &  endeavor,  both  by  precept 
&  example,  to  instruct  in  all  scholasticall,  morall,  &  theologi- 
call  discipline,  the  children  (soe  far  as  they  are,  or  shall  be, 
capable),"  of  fifty-eight  persons,  "whose  names  are  there- 
under written — -all  ABC  darians  excepted."  On  the  list  of 
these  fifty-eight  parents  appears  the  name  of  John's  father, 
"Joseph  Wise." 

From  Thomas  Mighill,§  the  last  previo^is  incumbent — born 
at  Rowley,  who  had  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1663, 
and  was  subsequently  pastor  at  Milton,  and  South  Scituate  ;  — 
and  John  Prudden|| — son  of  Rev.  Peter  of  Milford,  Conn., 
who  had  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1668,  and  afterward  preached 
at  Jamaica,  L.I.,  Rye,  Conn.,  and  Newark,  N.J.,  then  relapsing 

*Dillaway's  Hist.  Rox.  Gram.  School,  etc.  p.  7. 

tibid.  p.  26. 

+  Ibid.  frontispiece. 

§  Sibley's  liar.  Graduates,  ii  :   144.  ||Tbid  ii  :  258. 


Tivo  Hu7idrcdth  Aiuiiversary.  117 

into  school-teaching  once  more,  and  sending  out  several  emi- 
nent pupils  —  it  is  probable  that  the  lad  obtained  his  real 
training  for  his  college  course  ;  which  was,  most  likely,  largely 
accomplished  by  what  sporting  men  would  call  a  spurt  of 
eighteen  months  of  vigorous  endeavor  last  preceding  entrance. 
Over  and  beyond  the  common  English  branches,  this  training 
consisted*  in  the  acquirement  of  a  sufficient  knowledge  of 
Latin  to  be  able  to  read  ex  tempore  Tully,  or  some  equivalent 
classic,  and  "to  make  and  speak  true  Latin  in  verse  and 
prose;"  with  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  Greek  to  be  able  to 
"decline  perfectly  the  paradigms  of  nouns  and  verbs"  in  that 
tongue.  As  the  course  of  study,  which  from  1640  to  1654 
had  included  but  three  years,  was  at  the  latter  date  lengthened 
to  four,f  and  as  Wise  graduated  in  the  class  of  1673,  he 
appears  to  have  entered  college  in  1669,  when  he  would  be 
seventeen  years  old. 

Harvard  College,  then  founded  about  thirty  years,  and 
which  had  sent  out  near  200  graduates,  at  that  time  had  visi- 
ble existence  on  a  spacious  plain  near  the  river,  "a  place  very 
pleasant  and  accomodate, "J  in  a  single  wooden  building  orig- 
inally comely  without,  but  by  this  time  sadly  out  of  repair ; 
having  in  it§  "a  spacious  Hall  —  where  they  daily  met  at  Com- 
mons, Lectures,  &c  —  and  a  large  Library  with  some  Bookes 
to  it,"  having  also  chambers  for  lodging  and  closets  for  study, 
and  "all  other  roomes  of  office  necessary  and  convenient;" 
flanked  on  the  one  Hand  by  a  modest  Grammar  School  a 
little  predating  itself,  taught  by  Master  Elijah  Corlett  for 
nearly  half  a  century,  ||  and  on  the  other  by  a  small  brick 
building  then  recently  erected  by  the  Society  for  the  Propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel,  for  the  encouragement  and  accomoda- 
tion of  Algonkin  students. 

*  Laws,  etc.,  Qixincj's  Hist.  Har.  Un.  i  :  515. 

tThe  Harvard  Book  i  :  33. 

JN.  Eng.  First  Fruits,  12,  Sibley's  Har.  Grad.  i :  7. 

§Ibid. 

II Paige's  Hist.  Cambridge,  p.  366. 


ii8  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

There  would  be  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  undergraduate 
scholars,  with  perhaps  one  third  as  many  more  who  had  taken 
their  first  degree  and  continued  in  residence,  pursuing  further 
study  with  a  view  to  the  second  degree  and  a  profession. 
Such  were  called  "Sir"  Smith,  "Sir"  Brown* — and  so  on — until 
they  became  Masters  of  Arts.  The  President  was  the  only 
real  officer.  There  were  no  professors. f  Some  of  the  "Sirs" 
acted  as  tutors ;  for  which  they  received  the  munificent  sum 
of  ;^4  a  year.  J  As  the  College  was  then  a  public  institution 
it  was  subjected  to  the  distinctions  which  pervaded  the  State, 
and  soon  after  admission  the  members  of  the  Freshman  Class 
were  "placed"  according  to  the  social  rank  of  their  families, 
and  thenceforth  at  the  table,  at  worship,  in  recitation  and 
everywhere,  were  required  to  conform  to  the  order  fixed. 
The  best  rooms,  and  best  seats,  and  even  the  first  helpings 
at  the  table,  thus  belonged  to  the  sons  of  the  "first  families ;" 
so  that  we  may  be  sure  that  John  Wise  was  frequently  and 
effectually  reminded  that  his  father  was  a  nobody ;  and,  very 
likely,  that  flame  of  his  democracy  which  forty  years  later 
burst  into  a  scorching  and  consuming  blaze,  began  here,  and 
now,  to  kindle  and  smolder.  Furthermore  there  were  sharp 
distinctions  of  rank  between  classes,  as  well ;  the  lower  being 
the  fag  and  drudge  of  the  upper,  not  merely,  but  the  Fresh- 
man being  obliged  to  take  off  his  hat  not  only  to  the  President 
and  Tutors,  but  also  if  one  of  the  upper  classes  happened  to 
come  into  the  College  yard.  In  either  case  said  Freshman 
was  obliged  to  remain  uncovered  until  the  more  respectable 
party  entered  the  building  and  disappeared  from  view.§  Nor 
was  discipline  by  any  means  an  empty  word.  No  student 
without  special  parental  permission  founded  upon  a  physi- 
cian's certificate —  and  "then  in  a  sober  and  private  manner" — 
could  use  tobacco  ;  ||   nor  could  he  "buy,  sell,   or  exchange 

*  Sibley,  i :  17. 

tHarv'd.  Book,  i :  30.     %  Ibid.      §  Ibid.  28. 

||By  J.  Banker's  account  of  his  visit  in  1680,  there  had  been  much  back- 
sliding as  to  this.  Mem.  Long  Isld.  Hist.  Soc.   i:  384. 


Two  HiiiidrcdtJi  Anniversary.  i  19 

anything  to  the  value  of  six-pence,  without  the  allowance  of 
his  parents,  guardians,  or  Tutors  ;"  nor  frequent  the  company 
of  men  of  "ungirt  and  dissolute  life;"  while,  if  under  age 
\_nisi  adultiis\  after  twice  admonition,  any  who  perversely  or 
negligently  transgressed  any  law  of  God,  or  of  the  college, 
became  liable  to  a  whipping  in  the  Hall  openly  —  the  culprit 
kneeling  down,  and  the  President  opening  and  closing  the 
"exercise"  with  prayer.*  In  a  smaller  and  quiet  way,  the 
Tutors  thrashed  the  boys  at  discretion. f  Plum  cake,  for  some 
reason  which  does  not  appear,  was  especially  disreputable, 
and  a  few  years  later  its  u^e  imperiled  one's  degree. J  Fines 
abounded  and  money  was  scarce.  College  bills  were  apt  to 
be  paid  in  farm-products,  garden  "sauce,"  and  merchandise. 

I  regret  to  say  that  in  September  of  his  Senior  Year,  our 
friend  was  caught  in  a  scrape  which  proved  that  College 
human  nature  was  at  that  time  much  as  it  has  usually  aver- 
aged. Edward  Pelham  —  the  most  "respectable"  man  in  his 
class, — it  seems,  had  humbugged  a  young  son  of  Urian  Oakes 
into  shooting  a  turkey  belonging  to  some  neighbor,  which, 
turkey,  being  surreptitiously  cooked  by  one  Sam  Gibson,  was 
eaten  on  the  night  following  by  the  said  Pelham,  John  Wise, 
and  one  Jonathan  Russell,  then  a  Sophomore. §  The  inn- 
keeper Gibson  —  although  he  and  his  wife  insisted  they  had 
no  idea  that  the  turkey  was  stolen — was  admonished  and  fined 
forty  shillings,  and  committed  until  it  was  paid.  What  was 
done  to  the  offending  students  is  not  so  clear  from  the  record, 
as — what  was  done  with  the  turkey  ! 

It  was  distinctly  avowed  ||  "that  Christ  lay  in  the  bottome, 
as  the  only  foundation  of  all  sound  knowledge  and  Learning ;" 
and   secret  prayer,  and  reading  scripture  twice    daily,  were 

*Laws.  etc.  Qtiincv's  Hist.  Harv.  Univ.  i :  516;  S.  Sewall's  Diary.  5  Mass. 
Hist.  Coll.  v:  4. 
t  Qiiincy.  i:  189. 
+  Harvard  Book,  i  :  40. 
§  Sibley,  ii  :  416. 

II  Rules,  etc.,  Sibley,  i:    11,  12. 


120  Congregational  ChnrcJi  ajid  Parisli,  Essex. 

especially  enjoined.  Profaneness  and  neglect  of  worship 
were  forbidden,  and  diligence  in  every  duty  demanded.  At 
seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  at  five  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, each  student  was  required  to  attend  prayers  in  his 
Tutor's  chamber,  and  to  give  report  of  his  own  private  read- 
ing of  the  Word. 

Scholarship  was  clearly  as  much  better  than  now  in  some 
respects,  as  it  was  worse  in  others.  No  English  was  allowed 
to  be  spoken  on  any  occasion* — the  sole  exception  being  now 
and  then  a  public  declamation  in  the  vernacular.  No  scholar 
could  get  his  first  degree  who  was  not  able,  at  sight,  to  trans- 
late the  sacred  Hebrew  and  Greek  —  flavored  with  Chaldee 
and  Syriacf  —  into  Latin,  and  "resolve  them  logically."  And 
none  could  get  his  second,  who  did  not  satisfy  the  Overseers 
of  his  due  proficiency  also  in  Logic,  Natural  and  Moral  Phi- 
losophy, Arithmetic,  Geometry,  Astronomy,  History,  Botany 
and  Rhetoric. J 

Wise  happened  upon  Cambridge  in  changeful  times.  The 
venerable  Chauncy  was  President  when  he  entered,  but  died 
in  his  Junior  year  ;  so  that  he  graduated  during  the  obscurely 
sad  and  brief  term  of  Leonard  Hoar,  and  took  his  second 
degree  under  the  acting  presidency  of  Urian  Oakes.  Joseph 
Browne,  who  died  at  32  just  as  he  was  to  be  settled  over  the 
Charlestown  Church,  John  Richardson  who  afterward  spent 
one-and-twenty  years  as  teacher  of  the  Church  in  Newbury ; 
and  possibly  Daniel  Gookin,  who  expended  years  of  labor  upon 
the  Indians  near  Sherborne,  were  his  Tutors. §  There  were 
but  four  members  of  his  class,  viz. :  Edward  Pelham,  George 
Alcock,  Samuel  Angier,  and  John  Wise.  Though  a  common, 
it  was  not  the  universal  custom  with  these  "Sir"  Knights  of 
learning  who  had  just  become  Bachelors  of  Arts,  and  were 
looking    forward  to  a  second    degree  from  the    College,   to 

*'Laws,  etc.,  Quincy,    i  :  517. 

t  Ibid.  (18).     t  Ibid.  (19),  and  i:   191. 

§  Sibley,  i  :  207,   210,   277. 


Tivo  HundredtJi  Anniversary.  12 1 

remain  in  residence,  and  pursue  three  further  years  of  study 
in  Cambridge.  And — possibly  because  he  was  twenty-one, 
possibly  because  he  was  poor,  possibly  because  he  had  com- 
mon sense  enough  to  know  that  he  could  do  better  elsewhere, 
and  still  more  possibly  because  he  was  full-grown,  handsome, 
liked  people  in  general  and  was  well-liked  of  them — John 
Wise  chose  other  places  for  these  years.  As  to  what  path 
precisely,  and  what  inducements,  he  followed,  we  lack  evi- 
dence ;  but  in  a  few  months  we  hear  of  him  as  preaching  and 
living  so  well  in  Bradford,  Conn,  that  they  wanted  him  to 
settle  against  his  will.  Certain  it  is  that  when  Philip's  War 
was  raging,  in  1675,  he  was  there,  for  it  is  on  the  Connecticut 
Records*  that,  14-24  Jan.  1675-6,  the  Council  of  that  Colony 
"appoynted  Mr.  Wise  of  Bradford,  to  goe  forthe  minister  to 
our  army,  and  accordingly  wrote  a  letter  to  him  to  prepare 
and  goe  forthe  with  the  sea-side  forces  to  New  London,  there 
to  meet  with  Major  Treate,  &c;"  and  we  further  find  from  a 
letter  of  Major  Palmes, |  dated  at  New  London  twelve  days 
later,  that  our  young  friend  accepted  that  chaplaincy,  and 
had  then  just  marched  with  the  troops  into  the  Narragansett 
country.  We  next  hear  of  him  as  back  at  Cambridge  at 
Commencement,  5-15  July,  of  that  same  year,  where  he  de- 
livered one  of  the  two  Master's  Orations,  affirmatively  dis- 
cussing the  thesis:  An  inipossibilc  sit  innnduni  fnisse  ab 
acterno? 

About  this  time  a  minister  was  wanted  at  Hatfield,  where 
Rev.  Hope  Atherton  of  the  class  of  1665  at  Cambridge  had 
been  settled  in  1671,  but  was  now  demented  and  dying  in 
consequence  of  exposure  and  being  lost  in  the  woods  in  the 
Indian  war  ;i  and  Wise  took  his  place  and  preached  there 
some  two  years  after  his  death,  but  was  unwilling  to  settle, 
and  came  back  to  Roxbury,  where  —  I  do  not  say  this  was 

*Col.  Rec.  of  Conn.  1675-1677.  399. 
flbid.  402. 
JSibley.  ii :  194. 

16 


122  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

why  he  came  back — 5-15  Dec.  1678,  he  married  Abigail 
Gardner.* 

Our  next  bit  of  news  concerning  him  brings  him  hither. 
Although  we  had  not  here  in  Massachusetts,  so  long  ago  as 
in  the  latter  quarter  of  the  17th  century,  arrived  at  a  Governor 
who  directed  the  ministers  what  not  to  preach  about  on  Fast 
Day;  we  had  an  ''honorable  General  Court"  which  made  it  a 
part  of  its  concern  that  vacant  churches  should  secure  pastors 
which  enjoyed  its  confidence. 

I  need  not  repeat  to  your  well-instructed  ears  the  story  of 
the  three  years  of  endeavor  which  proved  needful  to  overcome 
the  reluctance  of  the  town  and  the  first  church  in  Ipswich  to 
the  establishment  of  a  church  here,  on  the  one  hand ;  and  to 
provide  a  candidate  for  the  new  pulpit,  whom  the  Court  should 
esteem  able,  pious,  orthodox  and  Congregational,  on  the 
other.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  by  22  May-i  June,  1680, 
the  "Jebacco"  company  of  believers  presented  to  the  Committee 
of  the  Court  "Mr.  John  Wise,  as  a  person  upon  whom  they 
have  unanimously  agreed    upon  for    their  minister. "| 

The  Committee  liked  him,  and  the  CourtJ  did  "  allow  & 
accept  thereof."  How  long  he  had  been  here,  or  how  much 
he  had  preached  to  the  people,  does  not  appear,  but  he  soon 
came  among  them  to  gladden  them  for  the  rest  of  his  days. 

It  would  be  surplusage — after  the  historical  review  which 
you  have  already  heard,  and  in  the  face  of  that  admirable 
volume§  by  one  of  your  former  pastors,  which  in  such  a  fit 
and  pleasing  manner  enshrines  your  annals,  and  which  I  trust 
is  in  nearly  all  your  houses  —  were  I  to  dwell  upon  the  details 
of  the  service  here  of  your  distinguished  first  pastor.  I  may 
only  glance  at  it,  as,  in  three  departments,  it  magnificently 
illustrates  the  best  qualities  of  the  New  England  ministry  of  a 
past  age,  while,  at  the  same  time,  in  so  doing  manifesting  the 

*  Savage,  iv  :  614. 

tMass.  Col.  Rec.  v:  285.     Jlbid.  2S6. 

§  History  of  the  Town  of  Essex,  etc.,  bv  Rev.  R.  Crowell,  D.D.,  186S. 


Two  Hii  11  dredtJi  Anniversary.  123 

real  greatness  of  the  man  himself.  I  refer  particularly  to  the 
relation  of  the  old-time  pastor  among  us  —  always  nearly  the 
best-educated  man,  often  almost  the  only  well  educated  man, 
in  town ;  the  man  of  broad  discretion,  far  sight  and  large 
hope,  as  well  as  profound  religious  faith  —  to  civil  and  social, 
as  well  as  ecclesiastical  affairs. 

It  was  inevitable  that,  in  their  civil  matters,  the  masses  of 
the  people  in  their  first  century  here  should  look  very  much 
toward  the  ministers  for  guidance  as  to  public  affairs.  It  was 
on  all  hands  conceded  that  religious  considerations  largely 
led  to  the  emigration ;  what,  therefore,  so  natural  as  that  the 
ministers  of  religion  should  be  looked  to  to  water  the  young 
tree  in  its  new  soil.  It  was  very  far  from  priest-craft,  or  even 
assumption,  or  ambition,  in  the  clergy  which  led  to  their  be- 
ing largely  consulted  in  the  Massachusetts  Colony  in  its  earlier 
days  by  the  magistrates.  Not  only  were  the  pastors  of  these 
flocks  in  the  wilderness,  by  the  high  range  of  their  studies 
presumed  to  be  more  familiar  than  other  men  with  political 
ethics  and  the  science  of  jurisprudence,  but  the  fact  that  they 
were  experts  in  self-government  in  the  church,  suggested  that 
they  might  easily  contribute  valuable  aid  toward  those  Colo- 
nial transactions  which  from  the  beginning  were  largely 
marked  by  self-government  in  the  State.  Moreover  the  in- 
fluence which  came  westward  over  the  sea  during  the  times 
of  the  Commonwealth  at  home,  could  not  fail  on  the  one 
hand  to  set  the  people  to  asking,  and  on  the  other  to  prompt 
their  spiritual  teachers  toward  contributing,  counsel  —  and 
sometimes  something  more  —  to  the  affairs  of  the  town,  and 
the  Colony.  And  when  unexpected,  and  sometimes  start- 
ling, problems  suddenly  demanded  decision,  it  was  of  all 
things  most  natural  that  the  freemen  should  look  toward  the 
Elders  for  suggestion. 

Mr.  Wise  was  always  ready  to  accept  his  full  measure  of 
responsibility  and  toil  for  the  State.  His  brief  service  with 
the  troops  from  Connecticut  in  Philip's  war  was  followed  by 


124         Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

a  much  more  responsible  and  irnportant  service  of  the  like 
description,  when,  in  1690,  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts 
sent  him  as  chaplain  to  that  ill-judged,  ill-planned,  ill-managed, 
ill-fated  and  in-glorious  expedition  of  Sir.  William  Phips  for 
the  conquest  of  Canada.  Mr.  Wise  seems,  indeed  to  have 
been  about  the  only  man  who  brought  home  any  increase  of 
renown ;  but  it  is  clear  that  beyond  the  pious  discharge  of 
the  special  duties  of  his  sacred  ofifice,  he  greatly  distinguished 
himself  by  "his  Heroick  Spirit,  and  Martial  Skill  and  Wis- 
dom," and  it  is  certain  that  more  than  forty  years  after  the 
event,  and  more  than  ten  years  after  he  himself  was  dead, 
his  family  received  from  the  State  substantial  proof  of  the 
honor  in  which  his  memory  was  held  in  consequence.* 

Much  more  of  moral,  and  perhaps  quite  as  much  of  physi- 
cal, courage  was  however  demanded  by  the  action  which,  in 
1687,  he  took  in  resistance  to  what  he  believed  to  be  civil 
tyranny.  The  exasperating — yet  possibly  over-hated  — Sir 
Edmund  Andros  had  been  for  more  than  two  years  Governor 
of  a  New  England  consolidated  from  the  separate  Colonies, 
by  what  the  colonists  felt  to  be  the  unwarrantable  abrogation 
of  the  Charters,  under  which  for  almost  two  generations 
they  had  lived  in  peace  and  prosperity,  and  upon  whose  va- 
lidity not  only  their  public  legislation,  but  all  their  private 
property  titles,  depended.  If  the  new  measures  were  sus- 
tained, it  was  literally  true  that  there  was  not  an  acre  of  land 
between  the  Penobscot  and  the  Hudson,  which  —  however 
guarded  by  legal  papers — had  not  thus  reverted  to  King  James 
the  Second;  and  which,  with  all  its  belongings,  could  not  be 
sold  or  given  away  —  in  the  face  of  those  who  had  bought, 
paid,  sweat  and  bled  for  it — to  whomsoever  he  liked.  There 
was  a  new  flag  and  a  new  seal,  and  new  ways  altogether. 
Andros  seemed  to  our  fathers  of  that  day  to  be  purely  a 
despot;  and  this  new  New  England  simply  his  despotism. 
As  to  taxation   he  was  empowered  —  with  the  assent  of  his 

*  Sibley,  ii  :  432. 


Tivo  Hundredth  Anniversary.  125 

compliant  Council  —  to  impose  such  taxes  as  he  pleased,  and 
send  them  down  to  the  towns  to  be  by  them  assessed,  collected 
and  paid.  It  became  his  pleasure  thus  to  impose  a  tax  of  a 
penny  on  the  pound  —  say  $4.00  on  the  thousand.  A  little 
after  the  middle  of  August  1687  an  order  came  to  this  town, 
that  such  a  tax  be  levied  and  collected  here. 

William  Hubbard  —  the  well-known  historian — was  pastor 
of  the  First  Church,  and  lacked  but  little  of  his  three-score 
years  and  ten.  Perhaps  for  this  reason  ;  perhaps  on  account 
of  his  "singular  Modesty;"*  possibly  because  of  some  occult 
personal  tie  indicated  by  the  fact  that  Andros  selected  him 
to  preside  at  the  next  Commencement  of  Harvard  College  — 
where  he  had  the  taste,  in  his  oration,  to  compare  Sir  William 
to  Jason  fetching  the  Golden  Fleece  ;| — we  do  not  hear  of 
him  as  taking  an  active  part  in  the  commotion  which  followed. 
But  we  do  hear  of  John  Wise  —  then  five-and-thirty ;  at  which 
age  a  self-poised  man  is  apt  to  think  reasonably  well  of  him- 
self, and  an  active,  effervescent  man  to  feel  equal  to  almost 
any  contract  social  or  civil.  Mr.  Wise,  with  two  of  his  parish- 
ioners went  over  to  Ipswich  proper  on  Monday  22  Aug.-i 
Sept.  1687  —  doubtless  the  thing  had  been  talked  over  between 
meetings  the  day  before  —  to  the  house  of  Mr.  John  Appleton, 
where  several  principal  inhabitants  of  the  town  were  quietly 
assembled,  in  what  we  should  call  a  caucus.  They  reached 
the  deliberate  conclusion  that  "it  was  not  the  Town's  duty 
any  way  to  assist  that  ill  method  of  raising  money,  without  a 
General  Assembly,  which  was  apparently  intended  by  Sir 
Edmund  and  his  Council. "|  And  the  next  day  in  town- 
meeting  John  Wise  made  a  speech  in  which  he  said  that  they 
had  a  good  God,  and  a  good  king,  and  would  do  well  to  trust 
in  them,  stand  to  their  privileges  as  Englishmen,  and  quietly 
refuse  to  cooperate  in  a  procedure  which  "doth  infringe  their 

*  John  Dunton,  Life  and  Errors,  etc.  cited  in  Sibley,  i :  58. 
fSewall.  Diary.  5  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  v  :  219. 
X  Sibley,  ii  :  430. 


126  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

Liberty;"*  and  the  town  voted — without  a  single  negative  — 
against  compHance  with  the  Governor's  order. 

For  this,  Mr.  Wise,  as  ringleader,  with  five  others,  was 
speedily  arrested  and  lodged  in  Boston  jail  "for  contempt  and 
high  misdemeanour;"!  was  refused  a  habeas  corpus  by  Chief 
Justice  Dudley ;  was  tried  at  Oyer  and  Terminer,  and  found 
guilty.  Mr.  Wise  was  "suspended  from  the  Ministerial  Func- 
tion" fined  ^50  and  costs,  and  required  to  give  "aj  thousand 
pound  bond  for  the  good  behavior  one  year,"  while  his  com- 
panions were  also  fined  and  disqualified  from  office. 

But  "the  whirligig  of  time"  was  not  long  in  bringing  "in 
his  revenges."  Before  twenty  months  had  passed,  Andros 
—  anticipating  the  scheme  of  a  great  traitor  of  later  date  — 
was  trying  to  escape  in  women's  clothes  from  the  jail  on  Cas- 
tle Island, §  and  Wise  was  back  in  Boston  as  one  of  the  Ipswich 
members  of  the  Convention  which  was  reestablishing  the  old 
government;  and  under  the  new  flag  of  William  and  Mary, 
sued  Chief  Justice  Dudley  for  having  denied  him  the  habeas 
corpus  \  with  the  result,  it  is  stated,  of  recovering  damages.  || 

These  incidents,  with  what  they  suggest,  will  be  further 
illustrated  when  we  come  to  glance  at  Mr.  Wise's  Congrega- 
tional teachings  ;  which  moved  men  more  mightily  toward  our 
present  republicanism  than  those  of  any  one  of  his  cotempo- 
raries,  and  can  leave  us  in  no  doubt  that,  in  this  department 
of  civil  influence,  few  men  —  if  any  man  —  of  his  day  excelled 
your  Chebacco  pastor. 

There  are,  moreover,  good  words  to  be  spoken  of  him  in 

the  matter  of  a  more    purely   social  inspiration.     Over  and 

above  all  those  ceaseless  and  countless  promptings  toward 

daily  improvement  of  some  sort,  which  an  educated   leader 

of  the    community   whom  all  love  and    respect,  and   whose 

great  powers  are  matter  at  once  of  common  admiration  and 

*Ibid. 

t  Crowell's  Hist.  Essex,  p.  102. 

X  Sibley,  ii :  4^2. 

§  Palfrey.  Hist.  N.  Eni^.  iii  :  583.      H  Crowell.  103. 


Two  Hundredth  Anniversary.  127 

enjoyment,  is  giving  forth  as  unconsciously  as  the  cHmbing 
sun  is  banishing  the  night-shadows  ;  Mr.  Wise  wrote  his  name 
upon  the  history  of  the  last  quarter  of  the  17th  and  the  first 
quarter  of  the  i8th  century,  in  connection  with  some  definite 
endeavors  to  make  men  happier  as  well  as  better. 

In  Feb.  1696-7*  there  was  a  movement  on  the  part  of  cer- 
tain residents  of  his  vicinity  to  emigrate  to  South  Carolina, 
and  settle  on  the  Ashley  river,  near  a  company  already  gone 
from  Dorchester;  and  Mr.  Wise  placed  in  the  hands  of  **Wm. 
Haskel,  Sen.,  Purser  for  the  Company  of  Subscribers  for  ye 
voiage,"  certain  admirable  "Instructions  for  Emigrants  from 
Essex  County,  Mass,  who  Intend  to  Remove  themselves  and 
families  into  South  Carolina." 

In  that  wave  of  darkness  which  swept  over  New  England 
in  the  last  decade  of  the  17th  century,  when  the  superstition 
which  still  shrouded  the  old  country  drifted  across  the  Atlantic 
and  settled  down  into  the  night  of  the  witchcraft  delusion 
over  the  new,  John  Wise  was  one  of  the  very  small  number 
of  men  having  sagacity  enough,  boldness  enough,  and  firm- 
ness enough,  in  the  face  of  whatsoever  danger,  to  resist  the 
sweeping  fanaticism.  Mr.  Upham  —  who  seldom  went  out  of 
his  way  to  compliment  men  of  a  sterner  faith  than  his  own  — 
in  his  History  of  the  Salem  Witchcraft — f  says:  *'Mr.  Wise 
was  a  learned,  able,  and  enlightened  man.  He  had  a  free 
spirit,  and  was  perhaps  the  only  minister  in  the  neighborhood 
or  country,  who  was  discerning  enough  to  see  the  erroneous- 
ness  of  the  proceedings  from  the  beginning."  He  risked  his 
own  life  to  save,  if  possible,  his  neighbor  John  Procter,  and 
others,  from  their  terrible  fate.  And,  8-19  July  1703,  we 
find  him  conspicuously  signing  an  '^Address"  to  the  General 
Court,  which  declared: J  "there  is  great  reason  to  fear  that 
innocent  persons  suffered,  and  that  God  may  have  a  contro- 
versy with  the  land  upon  that  account,"  and  earnestly  begging 

*  Sibley,  ii :  433. 

t  Salem  Witchcraft,  etc.  ii :  304. 

:  Ibid.  477. 


128  Congregational  Church  and  Paris Ji,  Essex. 

at  least  for  the  tardy  justice  involved  in  declaring  null  and 
void  the  attainders  resting  upon  the  heirs  of  those  unfortunate 
victims  —  a  prayer  after  more  than  seven  years  of  further 
delay  at  last  tardily  granted.* 

Sometimes  radicals  grow  conservative,  if  not  timid,  as  they 
advance  in  life,  but  it  evidences  the  genuineness  of  this  man's 
independence  of  thought  and  action,  that  when  he  was  near- 
ing  his  three-score  years  and  ten,  he  took  part  in  the  exciting 
controversy  which  then  raged  in  the  churches  as  to  singing 
by  note,  and  wrote  to  Thomas  Symmesf  his  judgement : 
"That  when  there  were  a  sufficient  number  in  a  Congregation 
to  carry  away  a  Tune  Roundly,  it  was  proper  to  introduce 
that  Tune."  So  when,  in  1721,  almost  all  the  physicians, 
except  Dr.  Zabdiel  Boylston,  were  bitterly  opposing  the  new 
practice  of  inoculation  for  the  small-pox  which  Cotton  Mather 
was  trying  to  introduce,  J  and  the  vulgar  rage  so  flamed  against 
it  that  the  rabble  tried  to  hang  Dr.  Boylston,  and  blow  up 
Cotton  Mather's  house ;  your  Chebacco  pastor  took  up  the 
cudgels  in  favor  of  his  life-long  opponent  and  his  novel  doc- 
trine, and  was  among  the  first  to  approve,  and  commend  to 
practice,  the  simple  and  effectual,  if  then  startling,  remedy. 

You  will  agree  with  me  that  all  these  were  great  features 
of  humanity,  and  that  only  of  a  great  and  grand  man  could 
they  have  been  true.  But  I  seem  to  myself  only  just  now  to 
approach  the  real  greatness  of  John  Wise,  as  I  ask  you,  in 
the  last  place,  to  consider  his  character  in  its  relation  to  the 
Church  Polity  under  which  he  lived. 

The  first  man,  of  whom  we  have  certain  knowledge,  after 
the  semi-Reformation  under  Henry  VIII.,  to  rediscover  the 
original  Congregationalism,  was  Robert  Browne. §  But  —  as 
all  deep  thinkers  have  —  he  had  a  philosophy  of  his  own  by 
which  he  explained  the  outward  facts.     As  he  looked  at  it,  all 

*  Sibley,  ii  :  433. 

tT.  Svmmes.  Utile  Dulci.  etc.  55. 

J  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  etc.  537;  Crowell,  131. 

§  See  as  to  Browne  and  his  views,  etc.  Cong,  of  last  300  years,  etc.  9S-110. 


Tzvo  HiindredtJi  Aimivcrsary.  129 

church  power  resides  in  Christ ;  yet  Christ  reveals  His  will 
to,  and  works  in,  all  believers.  So  that  the  Saviour's  absolute 
monarchy,  reaching  expression  through  all  faithful  persons 
equally  as  His  vicegerents,  becomes  practically  indistinguish- 
able from  a  pure  democracy ;  because  to  outward  eye  there 
can  be  no  difference  between  a  government  of  the  people 
exercised  because  each  has  inborn  inherent  right  to  rule,  and 
one  exercised  because  each  acts  as  by  proxy,  and  substitution- 
ally,  as  the  channel  of  the  power  of  another.  With  this  central 
principle  Browne  held  other  related  ones,  some  of  which 
— particularly  the  constant  duty  of  mutual  criticism — proved 
wholly  impracticable,  and  inapplicable  to  the  unculture  of 
those  humble  rustics  whom,  mainly,  he  gathered  around  him. 
Mutual  criticism  with  them  soon  degenerated  into  scolding, 
impertinent  scrutiny,  crimination  and  recrimination,  until  the 
little  church  of  poor  and  ignorant  people,  unfit  for  responsi- 
bilities for  which  they  had  never  enjoyed  needful  prepara- 
tion, went  to  pieces  in  Middelberg,  in  confusion  and  anarchy. 

The  next  Apostle  of  early  modern  Congregationalism, 
Henry  Barrowe,  seems  to  have  accepted  Browne's  system  in 
the  main,  but  sought  to  avoid  what  had  proved  fatal  to  the 
church  in  Zeland,  by  arranging  that  the  management  be  in 
the  hands  of  the  few  wisest  and  best  members  ;  concerning 
whom  the  mass  of  the  church  should  have  the  two  liberties  : 
( I )  to  elect;  (2)  ever  after  to  obey  them.  This,  of  course, 
was  Presbyterio-Congregationalism  ;  Presbyterian  in  its  Elder- 
ship, Congregational  in  its  local  church  and  the  right  and 
duty  of  that  church  to  manage  its  own  affairs  without  control 
from  without.  This  scheme  was  Barrowism  in  distinction  from 
Brownism.  The  Amsterdam  and  Leyden  Separatists  were 
Barrowists,  although  John  Robinson,  by  having  but  a  single 
Ruling  Elder,  and  by  using  large  conference  with  the  mem- 
bership always  before  action,  steered  his  ship  much  nearer 
the  Congregational,  than  the  Presbyterian  side  of  the  channel. 

New  England  Congregationalism  began  as  Barrowism.  The 


130         Congi'egational  ChtircJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

Presbyterians  had  almost  no  fault  to  find  with  it,  and  expressly 
declared  it  "well  sound,"*  had  it  but  "given  a  little  more 
power  to  Synods."  It  was  essentially  Genevan  in  its  College 
of  Elders,  (of  which  the  Pastor  was  chief)  inside  the  local 
congregation ;  essentially  Brownistic  outside  of  it.  And  no 
one  then  regarded  Democracy  as  a  good,  or  even  tolerable, 
thing  in  church  or  state. 

Time  passed.  Practice  began  to  develop  the  fact  that  the 
essentials  of  an  irrepressible  conflict  were  inborn  and  inbred 
in  this  hybrid  system.  It  was  impossible  to  explain  and  en- 
force the  right  of  every  church-member  to  share  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  body,  without  demonstrating  the  absurdity  of 
the  claim  that  all  church-members  must  submit  to  be  governed 
by  the  Elders ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  even  more  im- 
possible to  establish  the  right  of  the  Elders,  at  least  to  nega- 
tive every  church  act,  without  emptying  the  claim  of  the 
people  to  rule,  of  all  possible  value.  As  it  proved,  more- 
over, very  difficult  to  obtain  in  each  of  the  little  scattered 
churches  of  those  days  five  or  six  men  having  sense  and  cul- 
ture enough  to  discharge  acceptably  the  duties  of  Ruling 
Elders  ;  that  office  —  as  to  which,  to  tell  the  truth,  the  regnant 
good  sense  of  New  England  was  never  hearty — fell  into  dis- 
use. This  left  the  Pastor  sole  representative  of  the  Eldership, 
and  crowned  him  singly  with  the  right,  if  not  to  govern  the 
church,  at  least  to  prevent  it  from  governing  itself,  by  nega- 
tiving every  church  act  which  he  might  not  approve. 

The  Half-way  Covenant,  with  its  influx  of  semi-members, 
and  their  diluting  effect  upon  the  average  both  of  Orthodoxy 
of  faith  and  spirituality  of  life,  had  at  length  reduced  the 
churches  to  a  condition  of  alarming  depression.  Some  laid 
the  blame  upon  the  fact  that  Councils  could  only  advise,  and 
never  command  or  control.  Others  thought  the  difficulty 
was  in  the  well-nigh  complete  disuse  of  Ruling  Elders.  And, 
in  1700,  Increase    Mather  lifted  up  his  voice  in  anguish  to 

*  Rutherford,  Ratio,  etc.  7. 


Two  HundredtJi  Anniversary.  131 

warn  all  parties:*  "if  this  begun  Apostasy  should  proceed 
as  fast  the  next  thirty  years  as  it  has  done  these  last,  surely 
it  will  come  to  that  in  New  England  (except  the  Gospel  it 
self  depart  with  the  Order  of  it)  that  the  most  Conscientious 
People  therein,  will  think  themselves  concerned  to  gather 
Churches  out  of  Churches." 

But  what  was  to  be  done?  He,  and  others  like  him,  who 
were  sagacious  in  their  way,  had  their  answer.  And,  in  1 705, 
the  Boston  Association  of  ministers  adopted  and  sent  forth 
"Certain  Proposals,"  in  their  judgment  eminently  adapted 
to  heal  the  hurt  of  the  daughter  of  God's  people,  by  going 
back  into  the  Egypt  of  "strong"  governments  for  help. 
A  system  of  Associations  of  ministers  was  to  have  charge  of 
all  Church  affairs.  There  were  to  be  Standing  Councils 
to  determine  all  doubtful  matters.  No  Minister  uncom- 
mended  by  such  an  Association  was  to  enter  a  vacant  pulpit. 
And  so  on.f 

This  scheme  included  some  good  points.  But,  in  the  main, 
it  was  founded  on  the  false  and  foolish  notion  that  an  atten- 
uated, decrepid  and  moribund  Congregationalism  could  be 
reanimated,  and  rejuvenated,  by  a  heroic  dose  of  Presbyteri- 
anism. 

It  was  in  the  Autumn  of  1705  that  this  Pamphlet  of  Pro- 
posals made  its  way  to  Chebacco.  John  Wise  read  it  and 
laughed  at  it.  And  for  three  or  four  years  he  anticipated 
concerning  it  that  policy  which  Cotton  Mather  twenty  years 
later  boasted  that  he  had  exercised  with  regard  to  Mr.  Wise's 
own  book,  namely  that  of  "generoso  silentio,  et  pio  con- 
temptu."J  But  when,  in  1708,  the  Connecticut  Colony  con- 
voked the  Saybrook  Synod,  and  followed  its  lead  into  Con- 
sociationism  as  the  established  religion,  Chebacco  was  stirred. 
The  impossible  seemed  in  danger  of  happening,  and  lest  the 

*  Order  of  the  Gospel,  etc.   11. 

fSee  Proposals  etc.,  as  reprinted  bv  J.  Wise,  in  his  Churches  Quarrel 
espoused. 

\  Ratio  Dis.  etc.  185. 


132  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

churches  of  the  Bay  be  seduced  into  a  Hke  infidelity  to  their 
own  first  principles,  John  Wise  took  up  his  pen,  and  put  his 
laugh  and  the  philosophy  of  it  into  a  dense,  learned,  logical 
and  tremendously  caustic  i6mo.  pamphlet  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pages,  which  was  printed  in  17 10.  He  pitched  in  to  the 
'^Proposals"  without  pity,  and  —  in  a  style  unique  for  those 
days,  at  once  of  singular  directness,  force,  and  brilliancy  — 
he  showed  that  the  proposition  really  made  was  that  the 
churches  surrender  their  God-given  rights  for  the  sake  of  a 
new  polity,  which  seemed  to  be  *'a  Conjunction  of  almost  all 
the  Church  Governments  in  the  World,  &  the  least  part  is 
Congregational.*  Indeed  at  the  first  cast  of  the  Eye,  the 
scheme  seems  to  be  the  Spectre  or  Ghost  of  Presbyterianism, 
or  the  Government  of  the  Church  by  Classes ;  yet  if  I  don't 
mistake,  in  Intention  there  is  something  considerable  of  Pre- 
lacy in  it  .  .  .  .  something  which  smells  very  strong 
of  the  Infallible  chair."  ....  sof  strong  of  the  Pope's 
Cooks  and  kitchen,  where  his  Broths  and  Restoratives  are 
prepared,  that  they  are  enough  to  strangle  a  Free-born 
Englishman,  and  much  more  those  Churches,  that  have  lived 
in  such  a  clear  Air,  and  under  such  enlargements  so  long  a 
time."  Lest  any  should  think  he  was  disproportioning  the 
severity  of  his  attack  to  the  size  of  the  enemy,  he  said :  % 
"though  it  be  but  a  Calf  now,  yet  in  time  it  may  grow  (being 
of  a  thirsty  Nature)  to  become  a  sturdy  Ox,  that  will  know 
no  Whoa,  and  it  may  be  past  the  Churches  skill  then  to  sub- 
due it."  Perhaps  the  most  scorching  passage  is  one  of  his 
closing  paragraphs  in  which  referring  to  the  anonymous 
character  of  the  pamphlet — which,  in  deference  to  the  taste 
of  the  time,  merely  announced  itself  as  done  by  an  Associa- 
tion "at  B "   5   November   1705 — he  said:    "where  the 

Place  was,  or  the  Persons  who  were  present  in  this  Randez- 
vouze,  shall  never  be  told  by  me,  unless  it  be  Extorted  by  the 

*  Churches  Quarrels  Espoused,  etc.  p.  38. 
t  Ibid.  108.     t  Ibid.  81. 


Two  HiindrcdtJi  Anniversary.  133 

Rack.  And  tho'  I  have  endeavored  with  freedom  of  Argu- 
ment to  subvert  the  Error,  I  will  never  stain  their  Personal 
Glory,  by  repeating  or  calling  over  the  Muster  Roll.  There- 
fore, as  Noah's  Sons  cast  a  Garment  upon  their  Fathers 
Nakedness,  so  (leaving  them  in  the  Crowd)  their  Names  (for 
me)  shall  repose  under  a  Mantle  of  honourable  pity  and  for- 
getfulness."* 

Seven  years  later,  when  Mr.  Wise  was  sixty-five,  he  pub- 
lished a  formal  treatise  —  this  time  a  i6mo.  of  only  105  pages 
—  entitled  a  Vindication  of  the  Government  of  New  England 
Churches,  He  took  the  ground  that  democracy  must  be  the 
best  government  for  the  Church,  because  it  is  the  best  govern- 
for  the  State.  At  a  day  when  the  idea  was  novel  and  unpop- 
ular, he  avowed  his  conviction  that  the  only  rule  thoroughly 
suited  to  man's  nature,  is  one  founded  on  the  fundamental 
principle  of  human  equality  of  rights.  He  was  the  first  logi- 
cal and  clear-headed  American  democrat.  Half  a  century 
before  Thomas  Jefferson,  with  irresistible  logic  and  almost 
unmatched  magnificence  of  style,  he  laid  down  the  everlasting 
principles  of  democracy  for  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical  affairs. 
He  did  this  so  well  that  when  more  than  half  a  century  after, 
in  1772,  the  great  work  of  the  American  revolution  was  in 
hand,  two  successive  reprints  in  a  single  twelvemonth  of  his 
arguments  demonstrated  of  how  much  value  his  writings 
seemed  to  those  patriots  who  were  seeking  to  achieve  our 
national  independence,  and  establish  upon  a  firm  basis  in  the 
convictions  of  intelligent  men,  our  government — of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  and  for  the  people.  Prof.  Moses  Coit  Tyler 
in  his  History  of  American  Literature  cites  from  Mr.  Wise 
this  passage:  I  "The  End  of  all  good  Government  is  to  Cul- 
tivate Humanity  and  promote  the  Happiness  of  all,  and  the 
good  of  every  Man  in  all  his  Rights,  his  Life,  Liberty,  Estate, 
Honour,  etc.,  without  injury  or  abuse  done  to  any;"  and 
says: if     "No  wonder    that    the    writer  of  that  sentence  was 

*Ibid.  115.     t  Vindication,  etc.,    61.     %  Hist.  Amer.  Lit.  ii :   116. 


134         Congregational  CJmrch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

called  up  from  his  grave,  by  the  men  who  were  getting  ready 
for  the  Declaration  of  Independence!"  And  I  may  quote 
here  the  same  brilliant  historian's  general  tribute  to  him 
whom  we  commemorate.  He  says:*  ''upon  the  whole,  no 
other  American  author  of  the  Colonial  time  is  the  equal  of 
John  Wise  in  the  union  of  great  breadth  and  power  of  thought 
with  great  splendor  of  style ;  and  he  stands  almost  alone 
among  our  early  writers  for  the  blending  of  a  racy  and  dainty 
humor  with  impassioned  earnestness." 

That  these  two  tremendous  pamphlets  left  their  mark  upon 
our  Congregationalism,  need  not  be  told  in  detail.  They 
were  surcharged  with  the  electricity  of  original  and  energetic 
thought  to  that  degree  that  some  who  were  hit,  felt  almost  as 
if  their  author  had  "shot  out  lightnings  to  discomfit  them." 
And  as  thunder  and  lightening  purify  the  air,  these  two  little 
bolts  clarified  our  whole  atmosphere.  The  pregnant  good 
sense  which  was  in  them  not  only  prepared  the  way,  but  led 
the  march,  by  which  what  was  bad  of  Barrowism  was  left 
behind,  and  what  was  good  of  Brownismwas  recovered,  until 
the  reasonable  and  justly  balanced  self-government  of  that 
polity  under  which  we  now  live,  was  perfected.  So  that  to 
him  who  asks  for  some  monument  which  shall  illustrate  and 
demonstrate  the  ecclesiastical  influence  of  this  man  upon  his 
own  time,  and  upon  all  times  —  pointing  to  four  thousand 
sensibly  democratic  Congregational  Churches  between  the 
Arpostook  and  the  Golden  Gate,  we  may  say  of  John  Wise 
in  those  fit  words  which  Mylne,  architect  of  Blackfriars,  in- 
scribed over  the  entrance, of  the  choir  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral 
in  London,  to  the  memory  of  Christopher  Wren,  its  builder: 
''Si  vionuuientinn  reqniris,  circunispice!' 

I  wrote  the  other  day  to  my  friend  Hon.  J.  Hammond 
Trumbull  —  the  greatest,  and  (I  may  say)  only,  living  author- 
ity upon  the  Algonkin  tongue  —  asking  for  the  exact  sense  of 
this  word  Chcbacco.     I  could  not  help  noting  a  singular  appro- 

*Tbid.  114. 


Two  HundrcdtJi  Aiuiivcrsary.  135 

priateiiess  revealed  by  his  reply.  He  says  he  regards  it  as 
meaning,  literally,  ''the  greatest  pond,  or  principal  source,  of 
some  stream."  Was  it  not  a  fit  thing  that  your  first  Chebacco 
pastor  should  be  the  principal  source  of  the  great  river  of  that 
democratic  polity  which  now  gladdens  so  largely  our  land? 

It  is  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  years  four  months  and 
three  days,  since,  on  Thursday,  8-19  April  1725,  in  his  own 
house,  on  the  spot  where  the  mansion  of  the  late  Mr.  John 
Mears  now  stands,  John  Wise  —  who  had  reached  the  ripe  age 
of  two-and-seventy  years,  seven  months,  and  twenty-three 
days  —  lay  a  dying.  To  John  White,  of  Gloucester,  he  had 
said  in  the  beginning  of  his  sickness:*  "I  have  been  a  man 
of  contention,  but  the  state  of  the  churches  made  it  neces- 
sary. Upon  the  most  serious  review  I  can  say  /  Jiavc  fought 
a  good  Fight :  and  I  have  comfort  in  reflecting  upon  the  same  : 
I  am  conscious  to  myself  that  I  have  acted  sincerely."  Happy, 
my  brethren,  will  it  be  for  you,  and  for  me  —  since  we  too 
have  fallen  upon  times  that  sometimes  are  troublous  —  if  we 
may  approach  our  last  hours  with  a  like  humble  conviction  ! 

And  now,  when  his  time  is  fully  come,  he  expresses  his 
deep  sense  of  nothingness  and  unworthiness,  and  of  his  need 
of  the  Divine  compassion,  and  with  his  last  breath  invokes 
upon  himself,  his  widow  and  seven  children,  and  his  beloved 
church  and  people  to  the  latest  generation,  the  dear  grace  of 
God  in  Christ. 

Then  the  pale  and  attenuated,  but  still  majestic,  form  rests. 
The  sweet  light  that  beamed  in  winsome  gentleness,  or  flashed 
in  kindly,  if  withering,  sarcasm,  or  frowned  in  deserved  rebuke, 
from  under  the  eye-brows,  is  eclipsed  forever.  And  the  voice 
that  for  almost  two-and-forty  years  had  led  as  well  as  taught 
in  all  good  ways,  and  cheered  as  well  as  chid  this  people 
toward  all  good  works,  is  heard  no  more  at  all. 

With  a  kind  of  sacred  awe  —  as  if  there  were  presumption 
in  it — they  prepare  the  body  for  its  last  repose,  and  lay  it  in 

*J.  White:  The  Gospel  Treasure  in  Earthen  Vessels,  etc.,  41. 


136  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

the  best  room.  Through  the  open  windows  come  in  the 
twitterings  of  the  early  spring  birds  praising  God  in  the  bud- 
ding branches ;  and  the  sod  which  they  Hft  as  they  dig  his 
grave  —  larger  and  longer  than  is  their  wont — is  green  with 
returning  life,  and  has  in  it  the  sweet  prophecy  of  reviving 
after  the  winter  of  death,  breathed  by  the  faint  odor  of  a  few 
first  violets. 

On  Sunday*  a  congregation  from  far  and  near  crowds  the 
meeting-house  —  the  iiew  meeting-house,  which  never  re- 
sounded with  his  most  imperial  eloquence,  but  in  which  the 
last  seven  years  of  his  ripest  ministry  had  been  exercised  — 
and  John  White  preaches  his  funeral  sermon,  declining  to 
attempt  properly  to  characterize  the  dead,  for,  said  he  if  "he 
who  would  do  it  to  the  life,  must  have  his  eloquence." 

The  next  day  he  was  "decently  Buried  amidst  the  Honors 
&  Lamentations  of  his  Distressed  Friends,  and  of  his  Loving 
and  Generous  Flock,  and  at  their  Expense,":]:  and  that  he 
might  sleep  surrounded  by  those  to  whom  his  life  had  been 
eiven,  his  p;rave  was  ordered  to  be  near  the  center  of  the 
burial-ground.  And  as  they  took  their  last  look  of  his  face 
and  stalwart  form  how  many  of  the  old  men  turned  away 
with  moist  eyes  to  say  to  each  other  in  Shakespeare's  thought 

—  though  not,  consciously  to  themselves,  in  Shakespeare's 
words : 

He  was  a  man,  take  him  for  all  in  all, 
We  shall  not  look  upon  his  like  again. 

And  if  the  Spring  sun  shone  warm  and  pleasant,  no  doubt 
many  of  them  lingered  a  while,  and  sat  down  in  little  groups 
to  chat  pleasant  things  of  the  dead.  One  tells  again  the 
story§  of  the  strong  man  of  Andover  —  as  yet  unwhipt  of  all 

—  who  took  the  trouble  to  ride  over  to  Chebacco  to  try  his 
muscles  upon  the  parson  ;  and  how  the  good-humored  parson,, 
nothing  loath,  consented  to  the  trial,   and  concluded  a  vic- 

*  Gospel  Treasure,  etc.  preached  11  Apr.  etc.  Title  page. 

t  Ibid.  44.     %  Siblej  ii  :  438. 

§  Felt.  Hist.  Ipswich,  Essex  and  Hamilton,  p.  259. 


Two  Himdredth  Anniversary.  137 

torious  wrestling  bout  by  gently  flirting  his  overgrown  antag- 
onist over  the  fence  into  the  street;  and  how  the  astonished 
stranger  accepted  the  situation  in  the  mild  suggestion  that  if 
Mr.  Wise  would  kindly  toss  his  horse  over  after  him,  he  would 
depart  satisfied  and  in  peace  !  And  another  says  :  "Well  the 
parson  could  wrestle  in  prayer,  too,"  and  goes  on  to  recall 
how,  some  years  before,  a  pirate  cruiser  on  the  coast  had 
kidnapped  a  boat's  crew  of  Chebacco  boys ;  and  how,  in  his 
next  Sunday  morning's  supplication  Mr.  Wise  had  remem- 
bered the  poor  fellows,  and  had  said :  *  "Great  God  !  if  there 
be  no  other  way  for  their  deliverance,  stengthen  them  to 
rise  and  butcher  their  enemies;"  and  how,  in  very  deed,  the 
boys  came  back  that  same  week  safe  and  sound,  with  the 
statement,  that,  on  Sunday,  seizing,  on  a  sudden  impulse,  a 
favorable  opportunity,  they  had  sprung  upon  their  captors 
and  taken  the  vessel. 

They  all  well  agree  that  he  was  great,  and  that  he  was  good 
—  the  best  kind  of  good:  singularly  gentle  for  so  strong  a 
man. 

Here,  my  friends,  I  think  we  have  essentially  his  character 
in  his  name.  He  was  John,  and  he  was  Wise;  and  so  he  was 
John  Wise  ! 

Verily,  with  rare  truth,  it  was  chiseled  on  his  tomb-stone : 

FOR  TALENTS,  PIETY  AND  LEARNING,  HE  SHONE 
AS  A  STAR  OF  THE  FIRST  MAGNITUDE. 


Pr0l  Park's  prater. 

AT    THE    GRAVE    OF   REV.   JOHN   WISE. 

This  prayer  was  taken  down  in  full  by  the  Stenegrapher  of  the  Congregationalist  and 
printed  in  that  paper,  Aug.  30,  1883. 

O  Lord,  our  God,  Thou  art  our  God,  and  Thou  wert  the  God  of  our 
fathers.     We  thank  Thee  for  all  of  which  we  have  now  been  reminded  of 

*Ibid. 
18 


138  Congregational  Church  and  Parish ^  Essex. 

Thy  doings  among  the  fathers  of  this  parish  and  this  town.  We  thank 
Thee  for  the  great  men  whom  Thou  hast  here  raised  up  for  the  promotion 
of  Thy  cause  throughout  our  land.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  good  men 
who  have  served  Thee  faithfully  in  the  world,  and  then  have  been  gathered 
into  this  place;  this  garden  of  the  Lord. 

We  thank  Thee  that  we  are  allowed  to  stand  near  the  venerable  dust  of 
him  who  has  been  laid  in  this  spot.  We  thank  Thee  for  all  which  we  have 
heard  this  day  of  his  great  works,  and  his  humble  spirit.  We  praise  and 
bless  Thy  name,  O  Lord,  that  Thou  didst  endue  him  with  an  excellent 
understanding,  and  a  capacious  memory,  and  a  brilliant  imagination  ;  that 
Thou  didst  see  fit  to  give  unto  him  stores  of  learning  and  wealth  of  knowl- 
edge far  beyond  the  time  in  which  he  lived ;  that  Thou  didst  see  fit  to  give 
him  a  clear  insight  into  the  nature  of  his  fellow-men,  and  a  clear  foresight 
of  that  history  which  was  to  be  enacted  after  he  had  gone  from  the  earth. 
We  thank  Thee  for  all  his  bold  thoughts,  and  his  vigorous  words;  for  the 
influence  which  he  has  exerted  on  the  churches  in  this  Commonwealth, 
and  on  the  churches  which  are  now  springing  up  in  remote  parts  of  our 
land  —  in  regions  which  were  unknown  and  unnamed  while  he  was  upon 
the  earth.  We  thank  Thee  that  the  seed  which  he  sowed  on  the  borders 
of  this  Eastern  sea  is  springing  up  and  bearing  fruit  along  the  shores  of 
the  Western  sea,  and  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  this  land  — 
thirty,  and  sixty,  and  an  hundred  fold.  We  thank  Thee  that  the  principles 
which  he  elucidated  have  been  laid  at  the  basis  of  our  national  structure. 
We  thank  Thee  that  our  government,  in  so  great  a  degree,  has  been  fash- 
ioned according  to  those  wise  rules  which  he  proposed.  We  thank  Thee 
that  his  influence  in  church  and  in  State  has  been  continued,  even  to  the 
present  time.  We  pray,  O  Lord,  that  it  may  be  prolonged  through  gener- 
ations yet  to  come;  that  the  light  which  shone  from  his  humble  dwelling 
may  still  continue  to  shine  upon  the  churches  and  the  States  of  our  Union. 
Wilt  Thou  say  unto  the  sun,  "Go  not  down,"  and  to  the  moon,  "Depart 
not  from  the  valley  of  Ajalon  !"  May  this  light  be  continued,  and  may 
more  and  more  rejoice  in  it. 

We  thank  Thee,  O  God,  that  Thou  hast  revealed  unto  us  that  those  who 
serve  Thee  faithfully  shall  be  crowned  with  glory  and  honor  and  immor- 
tality; that  the  righteous  shall  be  held  in  everlasting  remembrance.  We 
rejoice  that  Thou  dost  remember  Thy  covenant  with  Abraham,  and  dost 
bless  the  children,  and  children's  children,  even  unto  remote  generations 
of  them  that  serve  Thee  and  keep  Thy  commandments.  Wilt  Thou  grant 
that  all  who  have  listened  to  the  words  spoken  this  day  may  receive  some 
new  impulse  to  duty.  Particularly  may  all  the  members  of  this  parish  and 
this  church  —  calling  to  mind  that  here  has  been  the  fountain  from  which 
have  issued  streams  that  have  made  glad  this  land,  and  that  Thou  hast  dis- 
tinguished them,  O  Lord,  above  so  many  of  their  fellowmen  —  all  feel  their 
obligation  to  live  a  new  life,  devoted  unto  the  God  of  Abraham  and  of  Isaac 
and  of  Jacob,  the  God  of  our  fathers,  who  led  our  fathers  through  the  wil- 
derness, and  brought  them  out  into  a  safe  place ;  and  grant,  O  Lord,  that 


Tivo  Hundredth  Anniversary.  139 

we  who  are  now  assembled  niav  learn  some  new  lesson  of  Thy  providence 
here,  as  we  stand  in  this  garden,  where  so  many  fathers  and  mothers  have 
wept  for  their  children,  because  their  children  were  not;  where  so  many 
brothers  and  sisters  have  come  with  tears  and  gone  out  w^ith  sobs,  because 
they  should  see  the  face  of  their  loved  ones  no  more.  We  thank  Thee 
that  we  are  permitted  to  stand  on  this  ground,  where  so  many  prayers 
have  been  oftered  by  godly  men  and  godly  women  who  have  visited  this 
venerable  grave;  and,  O  Lord,  we  pray  Thee  that  the  prayers  which  have 
been  oftered  in  this  home  of  the  dead  may  be  answered  even  now,  and  may 
richest  blessings  come  down  upon  us,  because  Thy  weeping  and  wailing 
children  have  looked  up  to  Thee  from  this  place,  and  supplicated  Thy  bles- 
sing. May  we  form  such  resolutions  as  we  should  form  if  the  dead  in 
Christ  should  rise  and  now  admonish  us  of  our  duty;  such  resolutions  as 
we  should  form  if  the  blessed  departed  ones  should  come  down  and  encir- 
cle us  as  a  great  cloud  of  witnesses,  beckoning  us  onward  to  a  higher  life 
and  a  nobler  duty. 

Oh  grant  that  we  may  feel  at  this  time  our  own  nothingness,  and  our 
dependence  on  Jesus  Christ.  May  we  feel  the  infinite  disparity  there  is 
between  Thee  and  us.  Thine  is  the  sea,  for  Thou  didst  make  it.  The 
strength  of  the  hills  is  Thine  also,  and  of  old  didst  Thou  lay  the  founda- 
tions of  the  earth  ;  and  the  heavens  are  the  work  of  Thy  hands.  Thej- 
shall  perish,  but  Thou  remainest;  they  shall  all  wax  old  as  doth  a  garmen.t, 
and  as  a  vesture  shalt  Thou  fold  them  up,  and  they  shall  be  changed ;  but 
Thou  art  the  same,  and  Thy  years  shall  not  fail.  We  are  like  the  flower 
that  in  the  morning  flourisheth,  and  in  the  evening  is  cut  down  and  with- 
ereth.  Let  us  remember  how  frail  we  are.  Our  fathers,  where  are  they? 
—  and  the  prophets,  do  they  live  forever.'*  We  are  strangers  and  sojouners 
before  Thee,  as  were  all  our  fathers.  But  we  would  walk  as  thej'  walked, 
near  unto  God ;  and  as  Thy  servant,  around  whose  grave  we  stand,  looked 
unto  Jesus  as  the  author  and  finisher  of  his  faith,  so  may  we  all  be  pre- 
pared to  die  as  he  died,  with  reliance  on  Him  who  shed  His  blood  for  us; 
and  grant,  O  Lord,  at  the  great  day  when  the  trutnpet  shall  sound  and  the 
dead  shall  be  raised,  that  we  may  rise  to  immortal  life;  that  this  corrupti- 
ble may  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  put  on  immortality;  and  that 
we  may  be  forever  with  the  Lord.  And  may  it  be  declared  of  us,  when 
we  are  laid  to  rest,  as  of  the  venerable  father  near  whose  remains  we  stand, 
"Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth;  yea,  saith 
the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors,  and  their  works  do  follow 
them."  And  may  each  of  us  be  able  to  say  at  the  last,  "I  have  fought  a 
good  fight;  I  have  finished  my  course.  I  have  kept  the  faith."  And  through 
the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  shall  be  rendered  unto  Thee,  Father 
and  Son  and  Spirit,  praise  and  glory  and  honor,  world  without  end,  Amen. 


Gl^BBiPING 

PI^OM     JTHE    MOTHBI^    GHUI^GH 

BY  REY.  E.  B.  PALMER,  OF  IPSWICH. 

PREFATORY    REMARKS. 

Beloved  Children,  Fathers  and  Mothers : 

If  I  speak  to  you  with  somewhat  of  deliberateness  you  will 
bear  me  witness  that,  after  the  story  of  this  morning,  it  be- 
comes any  representative  of  the  First  Parish  Church  of 
Ipswich  to  be  a  little  careful  in  his  utterance.  I  have  my 
notes  in  my  hand  as  you  see,  but  I  find  myself  in  sympathy 
with  a  public  speaker  of  whom  I  once  heard  who  "wanted  to 
make  a  few  remarks,  before  he  began  to  speak." 

In  answer  to  the  question  jocosely  put  to  your  pastor  as 
to  what  he  wanted  me  to  say  on  this  occasion,  I  received  the 
kindly  suggestion,  that  I  might  say  ''anything  I  pleased,  if 
only  it  was  appropriate."  To  speak  is  less  difficult  sometimes 
than  to  speak  appropriately.  Pope  long-ago  said:  ** Fools 
rush  in  where  angels  fear  to  tread."  And  though  the  four- 
teenth in  that  succession  of  preachers  and  pastors  whose 
brilliant  beginning  was  so  clearly  brought  to  our  view  by  the 
first  speaker  of  the  day,  it  may  be  that  I  am  to  show  myself 
one  of  the  "fools;"  first,  for  consenting  to  address,  ever  so 
briefly,  an  audience  already  filled  and  delighted  with  the  in- 
teresting and  admirable  historical  and  biographical  addresses 
of  the  morning ;  and  secondly,  for  attempting  to  hold  the 
attention  of  those  who  have  been  exposed  to  the  temptations 


142  Congrcgatio}ial  Church  and  Parish ,  Essex. 

of  such  sumptuous  tables  as  we  have  just  left;  and  again,  in 
the  esteem  of  some,  for  presuming  to  say  any  thing  in  this 
presence  in  behalf  of  Ipswich.  In  my  own  estimate  the  latter 
reason  is  without  force.  It  is  true  that  I  had  hardly  left  the 
platform  this  morning  before  such  salutations  as  these  met 
me.  "I  wonder  what  you  can  say  now  for  Ipswich."  "I  am 
glad  I  have  not  got  your  job  on  my  hands."  "I  would  not 
be  in  your  shoes"  "&c."  But,  friends,  I  am  here  on  an  errand 
of  crood-will  from  the  mother  church.  I  am  not  set  for  the 
defense  of  "Brother  Hubbard"  or  any  other  man.  I  can 
share  fully  in  the  joy  of  this  hour,  for  every  honorable  word 
that  can  justly  be  spoken  of  this  ancient  church,  reflects  its 
glory  back  upon  the  older  mother.  The  Child  can  receive 
no  genuine  honor  or  blessing  in  whicl>  the  parent  does  not 
share. 

The  "prodigal  son"  was  an  occasion  of  pain  to  his  father 
as  he  went  out  to  a  life  of  recklessness  and  shame,  but  when 
he  "came  to  himself"  and  began  to  live  worthily  and  to  prom- 
ise better  things,  there  was  joy  in  the  father's  heart,  and  good 
cheer  in  the  home,  because  the  "son"  was  restored.  So  the 
honor  of  our  offspring  is  ours  as  well,  and  we  are  not  dis- 
posed to  forego  our  claim. 

Then  further,  you  are  having  the  Essex  church  anniver- 
sary to-day  and  the  Chebacco  phase  of  the  history  is  promi- 
nent. Next  year  we  hope  to  hold  the  two  hundred  and 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  organization  of  the  Ipswich  church, 
and  the  mother  side  of  the  story  may  appear. 

If  not  many  are  here  from  the  old  Church,  it  is  not  because 
of  any  desire  to  avoid  the  record  of  an  earlier  day,  for  our 
earlier  records  are  lost,  said  to  have  been  burned.  Whether 
in  anything  said  here  there  is  suggested  to  any  a  reason  for 
their  destruction,  or  not,  I  will  not  venture  one,  but  invite  you 
to  the  assigned  duty  of  the  moment. 


Tivo  Hinidredth  Anniversary .  143 

ADDRESS. 

As  with  dim-visioned  Isaac  of  old  in  the  hands  of  a  schem- 
ing wife,  so  there  is  with  me  to-day  a  conflict  of  the  senses. 
The  witness  of  voice  and  hand  is  not  one.  Almost  in  the 
same  breath  I  find  myself  sharing  in  the  life  of  two  strongly 
contrasted  periods. 

The  force  of  the  morning  thought  has  been  such  as  to  take 
us  back  into  the  seventeenth  century,  but  the  order  which  has 
bidden  us  go  from  this  spot  and  look  upon  fair  fields  and 
goodly  dwellings  on  our  way  to  the  populous  village  of  the 
dead,  and  has  spread  before  us  in  such  profusion  the  viands 
and  the  cheer  of  what  was  modestly  named  in  the  programme 
a  "collation,"  and  which  summons  us  now  to  words  of  con- 
gratulation rather  than  of  reminiscence,  recalls  us  to  our 
advanced  standing  in  the  nineteenth  century.  And  I  am 
bound  to  recognize  the  higher  authority  of  the  modern  fact. 
The  mandate  of  your  committee  of  arrangements  permits  me 
neither  to  philosophize  nor  dream. 

I  am  asked  to  present  greetings  from  the  Mother  Church ; 
and  yet,  cheerfully  as  I  renezv  the  pledges  of  interest  in,  and 
high  desire  for,  the  peace,  and  purity,  and  prosperity  of  this 
"revolted  province"  of  our  once  wide  First  Parish  "dominion" 
—  pledges  given  many  times  between  the  old  style  Aug.  12, 
1683,  ^i^d  the  present  hour,  in  cordial  response  to  the  sum- 
mons for  counsel  or  sympathy  or  mutual  labor  and  joy  in  the 
Lord — the  truth  is,  and  I  may  as  well  out  with  it  at  the  sl^art, 
that  I  find  the  maternal  sense  in  myself  exceedingly  small. 
Even  though  a  representative  of  the  church  in  whose  fellow- 
ship your  fathers  and  ours  knew  the  ministry  of  Ward  and 
Morton  and  Rogers  and  Cobbett  and  Hubbard,  I  must  hum- 
bly confess  that  my  representative  capacity  does  not  intensify 
my  maternal  sensibility. 

As  a  pastor  of  eight  years  standing  only — though  in  that 
time  I  have  known  personally  one  numerical  third  of  your 
stated   ministry  for  the  whole  two  centuries  of  your  church 


144  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

life  —  you  will  not  wonder  that  any  excess  of  sentiment  in  me 
must  be  forced,  when  you  remember  what  changes  time  has 
wrought  in  outward  conditions  as  well  as  in  men. 

You  will  not  fail  to  see  this  first,  that  the  names  our  church 
records  cherish  in  common  are  comparatively  few.  Of  these 
it  is  a  little  remarkable  that  the  name  of  one  of  your  fore- 
most men,  Mr.  Cogswell,  should  have  been  associated  with 
the  last  diaconate  in  the  mother  church,  made  vacant  by 
death,  a  name  dear  in  the  educational  and  religious  life  of 
Ipswich  and  still  with  the  old  prefix,  "John,"  at  the  official 
head  of  our  Sunday  School.  But  this  is  one  of  the  few 
exceptions. 

In  the  second  place,  if  there  is  frequent  social  intercourse 
between  the  First  and  Second  Parishes,  I  do  not  know  it. 
The  old  system  of  "Quarterly  Fasts,"  which  would  not  let 
the  brethren  and  sisters  of  one  stock  forget  their  kinship  if 
they  were  so  inclined,  are  long  ago  things  of  the  past.  It 
was  months  after  his  coming  here  before  I  learned  of  the 
presence  of  the  acting  pastor  of  to-day,  and  it  is  only  three 
days  since  I  had  first  sight  of  his  person.  The  more  shame 
to  me  is  it?  .  Well,  consider  the  third  fact  namely  this,  that 
the  multiplication  of  churches  about  us  in  these  years  has 
called  for  such  a  change  in  the  limits  of  our  local  conferences, 
that  there  are  no  annual  opportunities  for  meeting  one 
another.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  our  ministerial  association. 

Then,  further,  the  two  parishes  have  no  business  interests 
in  common.  Ipswich  as  a  shire  town  is  no  more,  so  that  there 
is  little  to  draw  Chebacco  to  Agawam ;  and  what  attracts 
Agawam  to  Chebacco,  unless  it  be  a  Bi-centennial  Anniver- 
sary, or  a  Bi-ennial  Ecclesiastical  Council,  attracts  througJi  it, 
to  busy  Gloucester  or  Manchester-by-the-Sea. 

So  far  then  as  any  blood  concern  goes,  this  work  of  mine 
is  a  pleasant  fiction.  In  their  practical  relation  to  the  king- 
dom of  Christ  on  earth,  the  churches  of  Haverhill  and  Ipswich 
know  more  of  each  other  than  do  we. 


Tivo  HundvcdtJi  Anniversary.  145 

We  are  met  here  to-day  because  two  hundred  years  ago, 
honest  men,  God-fearing  men,  could  not  altogether  agree ; 
because,  (and  I  quote  the  words  of  a  man  of  precious  memory 
among  you,  the  father  of  the  historian  of  the  morning,)  be- 
cause "the  children  less  sensible  of  the  value  of  religious 
privileges  than  their  fathers  and  mothers  who  thought  but 
little  of  the  tediousness  of  the  way  to  the  house  of  God, 
were  less  inclined  to  make  so  great  a  sacrifice  to  enjoy  them." 

The  sincere  congratulations  of  this  hour  are  not  the  nar- 
row ones  of  a  household,  but  the  broad  ones  of  the  great 
brotherhood  in  Christ,  tinctured,  colored,  flavored,  not  with 
the  recollection,  but  with  the  historical  assurance,  of  this,  that 
so  many  years  ago  our  predecessors  worshiped  under  one 
roof,  paid  a  parish  tax  into  the  same  treasury,  brought  their 
children  to  the  same  font  for  baptism,  and  around  a  common 
table  received  the  consecrated  elements  from  the  same  hands. 

If  now  we  could  transfer  ourselves  to  that  early  day  and 
speak  to  those  "children"  impatient  not  of  their  old  fellow- 
ship, but  of  the  "tediousness  of  the  way,"  we  might  banter 
them  a  little  upon  their  faint-heartedness.  We  might  report 
to  them  the  great  disturbance  and  the  consuming  grief  of 
the  mother  church  that  having  in  the  persons  of  their  fathers 
walked  with  us  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord,  for  fifty  years,  they 
could  not  have  continued  to  do  so  the  little  matter  of  two 
hundred  years  or  so  longer. 

We  might  deplore  the  effect  upon  themselves  of  substitu- 
ting for  the  heroic  buffeting  of  wind  and  storm,  and  the  tread- 
ing of  the  uphills  and  the  downhills,  between  this  spot  and 
the  Center,  the  tame  measuring  of  a  few  paces  on  foot  or  in 
carriage  to  a  meeting  house  so  "handy  by"  —  and  we  might 
add  to  the  sum  of  our  reproach,  the  force  of  their  example, 
by  which  those  (with  us  ox  yon)  who  learned  of  their  reluc- 
tance to  go  six  miles  to  the  Sanctuary,  have  strengthened 
themselves  in  the  refusal  to  go  as  many  rods,  unless  the  con- 
ditions are  as  favorable,  at  least,  for  seeing  and  being  seen, 
as  for  God's  worship. 


146  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

And  yet,  however  sorely  we  might  have  to  reproach  this 
faction  for  the  folly  of  sundering  the  maternal  leading  strings, 
and  setting  up  in  life  on  their  own  account,  we  should  have 
to  confess,  by  all  the  tokens  this  morning  afforded,  that  the 
first  step  taken  after  the  separation,  in  the  choice  of  a  pastor, 
was  an  eminently  wise  one,  followed,  as  the  record  shows,  by 
many  another.  And  all  these  not  exhaustive  of  the  stock 
of  wisdom  native  to  this  region,  as  the  self-conceit  of  the 
moment  allows  me  to  find  suggested  in  the  name  of  the 
present  minister  here,  and  as  I  hope  the  event  may  abundantly 
and  happily  prove. 

But,  beloved,  we  have  no  such  word  of  reproof  as  a  de- 
liberate departure  from  the  companionship  of  the  trying  be- 
ginnings of  religious  life  here  might,  under  some  conditions, 
justify.  We  have  no  greater  desire  or  joy,  than  that  you 
"our  children  walk  in  the  truth." 

If,  in  the  later  past,  the  feet  of  our  membership  have  not 
been  turned  in  this  direction,  except  on  special  occasions, 
remember  that  when  the  daughter  makes  for  herself  a  home 
away  from  the  parental  roof,  it  is  her  province  to  seek  the 
old  home,  it  is  hers  to  trust  that  there  is  always  mother  love 
there  and  to  draw  upon  it,  while  the  mother  guiding  the  old 
house,  limits  her  visits  to  seasons  of  a  character  unusual 
because  of  the  great  joy  or  sorrow  in  them.  So  we  have 
visited  you  in  your  affliction,  and  extended  our  felicitations 
in  your  joy.  If,  when  your  councils  were  divided,  we  could 
not  suit  you  all,  you  must  consider  the  weakness  for  a  grand- 
child which  not  even  churches,  as  it  appears,  escape;  and 
you  must  also  bear  witness  that  your  afterwards  united  coun- 
sels awakened  gladness  in  the  heart  of  my  honored  predeces- 
sor, "Parson  Kimball,"  and  his  beloved  people.  They  were 
here  with  their  prayers  and  benedictions,  when  the  spirit  of 
God  persuaded  your  fathers  "how  good  and  how  pleasant  a 
thing  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity."  It  was 
said   concerning  the  parish   division  here,  "conclusive  proof 


Two  Hu n dvcdtJi  A  n  n  ivcrsa ry .  147 

was  afforded  that  there  had  been  Httle,  if  any,  personal  aHen- 
ation  of  feeHng  between  the  individual  members  of  the  two 
bodies."  The  same  might  with  truth  have  been  said  of  the 
earlier  separation  in  whose  anniversary  we  now  share. 

In  the  pursuit  of  my  pastoral  work  from  the  edge  of  Ham- 
ilton on  one  side  to  the  borders  of  Rowley  on  the  other.  I 
have  not  happened  to  fall  in  with  any  of  the  participants  in 
those  warm  discussions  which  issued  in  sending  delegations 
to  the  general  Court.  Nor,  as  Artemas  Ward  said  of  George 
Washington,  do  I  know  that  I  have  found  anybody  "wearing 
their  old  clothes." 

Certainly  I  have  found  no  person  commissioned  to  speak 
for  them  in  reference  to  the  occurrences  of  this  day.  But  I 
have  become  familiar  with  the  foundation  work  they  did.  I 
have  heard  somewhat  of  the  "manner  of  Spirit  they  were  of." 
I  have  seen  enough  to  assure  me  that  if  they  were  to-day  in 
the  flesh,  they  would,  with  us,  rejoice  in  all  your  joy,  as  it  is 
pleasant  to  think  that,  in  another  sphere,  they  give  each  other 
cordial  greeting  as  they  look  back  upon  the  follies,  and  the 
forbearances  of  .  .  .  day  before  yesterday  .  .  after- 
noon. 

In  cordial  fellowship  with  them,  we,  their  successors  in  the 
occupancy  and  conduct  of  the  old  estate,  discerning  clearly 
that  there  is  work  enough  for  us  all  to  do  without  laying  the 
constraint  of  so  much  as  a  protest  upon  each  other,  give  you 
to-day  and  henceforth  our  "God-speed." 

We  congratulate  you  upon  the  large  common  sense  resi- 
dent in  the  men  and  women  of  1683,  even  with  its  admixture 
of  a  shrewdness,  which  enabled  them  to  get  their  first  meeting- 
house raised  without  subjecting  themselves  to  the  penalty  of 
a  disregarded  injunction  from  the  "great  and  general   Court." 

We  congratulate  you  upon  all  the  work  God  has,  through 
your  fathers  and  their  children,  wrought  here. 

We  congratulate  you  upon  your  ministry  to  the  broader 
world  without,  wrought  through  those  who  were  cradled  in 


148  Congregational  CJinrch  and  ParisJiy  Essex. 

your  Essex  church  homes,  consecrated  at  your  altars,  edu- 
cated in  your  schools,  spiritually  trained  under  your  godly 
ministry,  the  lawyers,  the  doctors,  the  teachers,  the  ministers 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  a  goodly  company,  part  on  earth, 
part  in  glory. 

We  congratulate  you  upon  your  present  numerical  strength, 
upon  your  acceptable  ministry,  upon  your  opportunities  for 
Christian  work,  and  the  promise  you  hold  in  common  with 
us  all  of  the  Master's  living  and  helpful  presence,  and  we 
pray  that  you  may  worthily  hold  the  prestige  God's  provi- 
dence has  given  you,  and  transmit  it  unimpaired  to  the  gen- 
eration which  a  hundred  years  hence  shall  gather  as  we  now 
do  in  grateful  recognition  of  the  redeeming  and  sanctifying 
grace  of  Jesus  Christ,  their  Lord  and  ours. 


Gl^BEiPING 

pr^OM    THE    SISTBI^    GHUF^GHES 

REY.  F.  G.  CLARK,  GLOUCESTER. 

It  seems  like  trespassing,  Mr.  President,  for  me  to  take  any 
of  the  precious  time  that  belongs  to  this  pleasant  family  gath- 
ering. But  I  have  noticed  that  when  a  florist  gathers  a  boquet 
he  goes  outside  of  his  green  house  for  ferns  or  grasses  for  its 
background,  and  so  sets  off  the  beauty  of  his  choice  flowers 
by  way  of  contrast.  With  the  thought  that  your  committee 
wanted  something  green  or  dry  from  the  outside  world  to 
serve  as  a  background  for  the  better  display  of  the  rare  and 
beautiful  products  of  this  goodly  garden  of  Essex,  I  have 
been  persuaded  to  say  a  few  words. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  I  was  delighted  with  the 
exercises  of  the  morning.  Such  addresses  are  wonderfully 
stimulating  and  instructive,  not  only  to  those  personally  in- 
terested, but  to  all  that  are  students  of  history.  I  have  long 
known  that  this  church  was  founded  by  a  Wise  master  builder, 
but  how  wise  and  illustrious  he  was  I  had  no  conception  until 
his  services  and  exploits  were  set  before  us  by  the  Dexterous 
pen  of  our  Nestor  of  Congregationalism. 

As  soon  as  I  came  into  this  neighborhood  I  discovered 
that  this  church  was  regarded  by  the  others  of  the  conference 
with  wonder  and  admiration  because  of  the  number  of  edu- 
cated men  and  women  it  has  sent  out  from  its  borders,  but 
after  listening  to  the  remarkably  clear  and  discriminating 
historical  address  this  morning,  I   am  compelled  to  believe 


150         Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

that  this  elder  sister  has  not  been  half  appreciated.  I  had 
supposed  that  when  "the  flower  of  Essex,"  was  massacred  at 
Bloody  Brook,  that  the  whole  county  met  with  an  irretrievable 
loss,  but  I  think  I  have  discovered  to-day  that  the  root  of 
that  "flower"  was  planted  in  this  church  and  that  its  vigorous 
growth  since  that  time  has  not  only  made  that  great  loss  good, 
but  has  provided  many  distinguished  men  for  the  whole  Com- 
monwealth. 

With  such  a  history  so  rich  and  varied,  so  suggestive  and 
helpful  it  is  eminently  appropriate  that  you  should  celebrate 
your  two  hundredth  anniversary.  I  will  not  occupy  the  time 
with  my  personal  congratulations  though  they  are  most  abun- 
dant and  sincere.  I  will  not  detain  you  with  the  greetings 
which  my  church  extend  to  you  to-day.  The  number  who 
have  come  over  to  these  exercises  indicates  our  interest  in 
this  occasion  and  we  are  free  to  confess  that  we  owe  to  you 
as  a  church  a  debt  of  gratitude  that  we  can  never  repay.  But 
I  come  before  you  as  a  representative  of  the  churches  of  this 
conference  and  bring  their  warmest  greetings  to  this  elder 
sister  elect,  precious.  We  are  glad  of  this  privilege  of  ex- 
pressing our  congratulations  for  such  an  honorable  record. 
It  falls  to  the  lot  of  many  good  men  and  women  never  to 
know  how  highly  they  are  appreciated  by  their  associates. 
The  words  of  commendation  due,  are  not  spoken  until  their 
bodies  are  robed  for  the  grave.  But  such  a  church  anniver- 
sary as  this,  gives  an  opportunity  for  expressions  of  interest 
and  respect  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  long  recognized 
the  worth  of  a  beloved  sister  in  the  Lord. 

Your  history  as  a  church  is  a  noble  one  and  though  you 
can  not  boast  of  a  written  record  of  a  thousand  years,  yet  it 
requires  no  spirit  of  prophecy  to  say  snch  a  record  is  before 
you. 

It  is  especially  fitting  at  this  time  to  extend  to  this  elder 
sister  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  which  has  been  given  so 
many  times  by  you  to  the  younger  members  of  this  family  of 


Two  HundredtJi  Anniversary.  151 

churches  as  they  sprung  into  existence.  We  esteem  it  a  great 
favor  that  we  can  to-day  express  our  gratitude  for  your  loving 
kindness  and  faithful  efforts  in  our  behalf.  The  fellowship  of 
the  churches  is  the  crowning  glory  of  our  denomination.  It 
is  not  a  mere  sentiment  about  which  words  abundant  and 
meaningless  may  be  spoken  ;  it  is  not  a  vague  theory  beauti- 
ful in  outline  but  of  no  value  in  practical  experience  ;  it  is 
not  simply  coming  together  in  council  when  we  meet  to  install 
or  dismiss  a  pastor ;  it  is  not  restricted  to  the  pleasant  rela- 
tion which  exists  in  the  association  of  churches  in  conference 
or  that  opens  the  way  for  the  exchange  of  neighboring  pas- 
tors, but  it  is  the  spirit  of  mutual  sympathy  and  cooperation 
that  permeates  our  relation  to  each  other  and  holds  us  with  a 
power  like  that  which  keeps  the  planets  in  their  course  about 
the  sun.  While  we  are  independent  of  each  other  in  the 
matter  of  our  creed  and  are  free  to  act  our  own  pleasure  con- 
cerning the  work  of  the  individual  church,  yet  this  invisible 
bond  of  common  interests  and  affection  gives  a  feeling  of  re- 
sponsibility for  the  material  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  whole 
sisterhood  of  churches,  which  is  of  most  vital  importance  to 
our  growth  and  prosperity. 

The  word  sister,  has  a  most  significant  meaning  as  applied 
to  our  relation  to  each  other  as  churches.  It  suggests  the 
charming  picture  which  greets  the  eye  in  many  well  regulated 
homes,  where  the  elder  sister  takes  a  motherly  interest  in  the 
younger  members  of  the  household,  and  anticipates  their 
wishes  and  happiness  at  the  cost  of  great  self  denial.  Such 
has  been  the  interest  which  the  older  churches  have  taken  in 
their  younger  sisters.  Churches  that  were  formed  fifty  years 
ago  and  more,  came  into  existence  under  peculiarly  distress- 
ing circumstances.  When  the  Evangelical  Church  at  Glouc- 
ester was  born,  the  Mother  Church  looked  upon  its  offspring 
as  one  born  out  of  due  time  and  possessed  neither  ability  or 
willingness  to  nurse  it  as  its  own.  This  weak  and  helpless 
infant,  an  orphan  from  birth,  would  have  been  left  to  the  ten- 


152  Congregational  CJinrcJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

der  mercies  of  a  cold  unfeeling  world  had  not  the  sisterly  im- 
pulses of  the  churches  at  Essex  and  Sandy  Bay  led  them 
to  take  the  child  and  nourish  it  for  the  Lord. 

Had  it  not  been  for  Dr.  Crowell  and  Rev.  David  Jewett 
aided  by  the  churches  they  represented,  that  little  church  at 
Gloucester  Harbor  could  never  have  survived  the  trials  of  its 
earliest  years.  These  two  men  were  not  only  interested  in 
the  formation  of  the  church  but  in  securing  for  it  the  stated 
means  of  grace.  They  arranged  to  have  the  pulpit  supplied 
by  neighboring  ministers  until  they  could  obtain  a  pastor  to 
take  up  the  work.  They  both  labored  faithfully  to  secure  a 
shelter  for  the  homeless  orphan  and  were  on  the  building 
committee  which  erected  the  first  church  edifice.  The  build- 
ing cost  two  thousand  dollars  of  which  only  four  hundred  were 
contributed  by  the  little  band  of  believers,  for  the  balance  of 
the  debt  these  two  men  became  personally  responsible  until 
they  secured  it  by  repeated  solicitation  from  the  stronger 
churches  of  the    state. 

The  interest  of  these  neighboring  pastors  extended  to  the 
spiritual  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  church.  As  soon  as 
a  minister  was  installed  they  united  with  him  in  holding  a 
protracted  meeting  which  brought  a  large  addition  to  the 
church.  When  difficulties  and  dissensions  arose  they  were 
ready  with  their  wise  and  faithful  counsel  to  promote  har- 
mony and  unity  of  feeling.  One  instance  is  on  record 
where  they  were  called  to  advise  concerning  some  difficulty 
with  the  pastor  and  the  whole  church  voted  by  rising, 
"  that  the  difficulties  be  here  dropped,  and  that  the  person 
hereafter  making  them  matter  of  conversation  shall  be  con- 
sidered as  violating  the  peace  of  the  church." 

But  Dr.  Crowell  and  his  associates  were  not  only  interested 
in  the  church  at  Gloucester  Harbor,  but  they  did  a  similar 
work  at  Lanesville,  at  West  Gloucester,  at  North  Beverly,  at 
Saugus  and  I  know  not  how  many  other  places.  It  is  simply 
amazing  to  find  how  much  these  men  did  outside  of  their  own 


Tivo  HinidrcdtJi  Anniversary.  153 

special  field  of  labor.  They  were  large  hearted,  far  seeing 
men,  the  circle  of  their  endeavor  was  not  bounded  by  the 
narrow  horizon  of  their  own  parish,  they  took  into  their  sym- 
pathetic hearts  the  spiritual  wants  of  every  needy  village  in 
the  community  about  them.  They  were  illustrious  examples 
of  the  Christian  activity  to  which  reference  was  made  in  the 
historical  address. 

It  is  one  of  the  great  advantages  of  such  a  celebration  as 
this,  that  a  church  finds  out  as  in  no  other  way  what  has  been 
done  in  the  past  worthy  of  imitation.  It  is  quickened  by  the 
review  of  such  devotion  and  moved  to  thank  God  and  take 
courage.  This  church  will  be  "all  the  stronger  for  the  next 
one  hundred  years  for  the  story  that  has  been  told  to-day. 
The  spirit  that  animated  the  ministry  fifty  years  ago,  is  needed 
in  these  times  ;  we  should  cultivate  a  wider  vision  and  a  deeper 
love  for  the  cause  of  Christ.  We  ought  to  see  the  waste 
places  about  us  that  may  be  made  with  God's  blessing  to  bud 
and  blossom  as  the  rose.  We  ought  to  be  willing  as  churches 
to  deny  ourselves  of  our  rights  and  privileges  that  the  Gospel 
may  be  preached  to  the  benighted  beyond  our  borders.  As 
our  minds  thrill  to-day  with  the  story  of  the  results  of  the 
lives  of  those  who  have  made  the  history  of  this  church  and 
town,  let  us  all  profit  by  these  lessons  and  return  to  our  work 
with  a  renewed  purpose  to  do  more  and  better  work  for 
Christ. 


I^EMINISGENGES  OP  Df^.  (gl^OWBLL 

BY  REV.  JEREMIAH  TAYLOR,  D.  D.,  OF  PROYIDEIICE,  R.  I. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Fathers  and  Brethren : 

It  seems  appropriate  that  I  should  be  with  you  on  this 
interesting  occasion,  for  several  reasons.  A  descendant  of 
one  of  the  honored  pastors  of  this  church  sustained  to  me 
the  relation  of  a  beloved  sister  as  the  wife  of  my  brother ; 
and  the  pastor  of  your  neighboring  church  at  Manchester; 
Rev.  Oliver  Alden  Taylor.  How  often  have  I  listened  to  the 
glowing  descriptions  she  gave  of  her  grandfather  and  the 
eminent  service  he  rendered  the  church  and  state  while  pas- 
tor here.  And  it  would  be  a  profitable  service,  did  time  per- 
mit to  trace  the  influence  of  the  honored  men  who  have 
served  you  here  so  long  and  so  well,  not  merely  in  the  confines 
of  this  parish,  but  on  the  broader  range  of  the  Community 
at  large.  Rev.  John  Cleaveland,  gave  to  this  County  an  emi- 
nent physician  in  the  person  of  his  son,  Nehemiah  Cleaveland, 
M.  D.,  whose  public  life  was  identified,  with  the  varied  inter- 
ests which  entered  into  the  growth  of  Topsfield.  Of  his  four 
sons,  brothers  of  my  sister,  one  was  a  bright  ornament  of  the 
legal  profession  ;  and  spent  his  life  in  connection  with  the  Bar 
of  New  York.  Another  was  a  distinguished  clergyman,  and 
boldly  and  successfully  defended  the  doctrines  of  our  faith, 
in  the  face  of  great  opposition  in  one  of  the  New  England 
cities  and  left  a  work  nobly  done  for  the  church.  Another 
became  an  ornament  in  the  department  of  literature,  and  the 
fourth  was  known  and  honored  in  the  manufacturinof  and 
agricultural  industry  of  this  native  county.     Rare  men  all. 


156  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

A  good  deal  of  interest  also  has  been  awakened  on  my  part 
to  see  how  my  friend,  the  present  pastor  in  charge  of  this  ven- 
erable pulpit  wreathed  with  the  crown  of  two  centuries,  may 
carry  himself.  It  was  my  pleasure  to  greet  him  when  he 
took  his  ordination  vows,  and  we  would  gladly  have  retained 
him  in  the  field  where  he  was  then  installed. 

But  the  chief  thing  which  has  brought  me  here  is  to  say  a 
few  things  in  regard  to  one  of  the  later  pastors  of  the  church 
who  is  so  well  remembered  by  the  older  portion  of  the  con- 
gregation, Rev.  Robert  Crowell,  D.D. 

When  called  in  1847  to  take  the  pastorate  of  the  neigh- 
boring church  at  Wenham  ;  I  took  advise  of  your  pastor  as 
to  the  course  of  duty,  and  he  as  much  as  any  one  influenced 
the  final  decision. 

And  when  for  the  ordination  services  the  Ecclesiastical 
Council  was  called,  and  parts  were  finally  assigned,  on  him 
devolved  the  duty  of  giving  the  charge  to  the  young  pastor. 
It  impressed  me  then  as  a  most  excellent  address  of  its  kind, 
and  as  the  parts  were  published,  I  have  had  opportunity  to 
read  it  often  since,  and  now  think  it  to  be  a  model  both  in 
regard  to  instruction  and  style.  During  the  years,  in  which 
neighborly,  pastoral  relations  existed  between  us,  I  had  occa- 
sion to  meet  him  often  under  circumstances,  that  could  not 
fail  to  reveal  the  spirit  of  the  man. 

Attempting  to  walk  over  to  Manchester  of  a  Sabbath  morn- 
ing to  fulfil  an  appointment  for  an  exchange,  he  slipped  on 
the  ice  and  brook  his  leg.  Paying  him  a  visit  as  he  lay  upon 
his  couch  in  consequence  of  this  disabled  condition  ;  in  per- 
fect calmness,  and  a  spirit  of  gentle  resignation  he  said  I  have 
often  questioned  whether  I  was  in  the  place  of  duty,  but  I 
have  now  no  doubt,  as  I  lie  here,  that  I  am  just  where  God 
has  put  me. 

When  in  December  1851,  my  brother  of  Manchester  died, 
there  was  no  question  as  to  whom  he  would  wish  to  have  preach 
his  funeral  discourse,  I  hastened  in  my  grief  to  Dr.   Crowell 


Tzvo  Hundrcdtli  Anniversary.  157 

and  engaged  him  for  that  service.  The  day  of  burial  however 
proved  so  severe  in  cold  and  storm  that  he  deemed  it  unsafe 
to  leave  his  home,  but  delivered  the  sermon  to  the  bereaved 
people  on  a  subsequent  Sabbath  to  the  satisfaction  of  all 
concerned.  Of  Dr.  Crowell  personally  I  was  impressed  that 
he  was  loyal  to  himself.  He  cultivated  those  habits  of  life 
and  character  which  brought  him  into  close  fellowship  with 
God.  The  saint  appeared  clearly  in  the  man.  No  one 
could  be  in  his  company  for  however  short  a  time  without 
feeling  that  he  was  spiritually  minded  ;  holy  beyond  what 
is  ordinary.  He  was  loyal  to  the  letter  of  the  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures. He  was  a  thorough  student  of  the  Word.  Not  con- 
tent with  his  private  studies  of  the  orignal  tongues,  he  in 
company  with  several  others  of  the  pastors  in  the  vicinity 
formed  what  they  called  a  Sub-Association,  and  met  fre- 
quently to  read  and  discuss  together  the  Greek  and  Hebrew 
text. 

He  was  also  loyal  to  the  doctrines  of  that  Word  ;  what  the 
Scriptures  taught  satisfied.  He  was  not  led,  by  any  specu- 
lations a  step  beyond,  and  when  it  is  remembered  who  were 
his  associates  in  the  neighboring  pastorates  during  his  later 
years,  one  is  not  easily  persuaded  to  believe  there  were  essential 
doctrines  in  the  Sacred  Word  which  they  had  not  discovered 
and  the  need  of  any  departure  from  the  faith  which  was  then 
taught  does  not  commend  itself  as  worthy  of  serious  regard. 
Those  w^ere  the  days,  when  Gale  was  at  Rockport,  Taylor  at 
Manchester,  Abbott  at  Beverly,  Braman  at  Danvers,  Worces- 
ter and  Emerson  at  Salem,  Cooke  at  Lynn,  and  the  pulpit 
gave  no  uncertain  instruction  under  their  ministrations.  Oh  ! 
for  the  return  of  an  era  of  such  long  and  able  pastorates 
when  the  preacher  will  have  time  and  opportunity,  as  then, 
to  teach  his  people  thoroughly  the  profound  things  of  life 
and  salvation. 

Dr.  Crowell  evinced  a  deep  interest  in  young  ministers,  he 
had  a  happy  way  in  conversation  of  calling  out  their  opinions 


158  Congregational  CJutrcJi  and  ParisJi^  Essex. 

on  abstruse  and  difficult  topics,  carefully  concealing  his  own 
judgment  to  the  last,  when  by  a  brief  utterance  he  made  abid- 
ing his  own  clear  convictions  in  the  mind  of  the  listener.  I 
have  brought  to  this  hour  the  results  of  a  conversation  I  once 
held  with  him  on  the  views  of  the  elder  President  Edwards 
in  regard  to  the  social  ostracism  of  excommunicated  church 
members.  In  counsel  Dr.  Crowell  was  regarded  excellent, 
highly  acceptable  as  a  preacher,  ever  welcome  to  the  pulpits 
of  neighboring  parishes. 

It  was  in  1855,  that  we  assembled  in  the  house  of  God 
where  he  had  so  long  preached  the  gospel,  to  honor  him  in 
burial.  Thence  we  bore  his  mortal  remains  to  the  neighbor- 
ing cemetery,  committing  them  earth  to  earth,  ashes  to  ashes, 
dust  to  dust,  there  to  rest  with  his  sleeping  congregation  and 
arise  with  them  in  triumphant,  glorious  resurrection. 

Brethren,  we  seem  standing  to-day  in  exalted  contempla- 
tion with  the  apostle  when  he  exclaims  in  the  opening  verses 
of  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Hebrews:  ''Wherefore  seeing  we 
also  are  compassed  about  with  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses, 
let  us  lay  aside  every  weight  and  the  sin  which  doth  so  easily 
beset  us,  and  let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  be- 
fore us,  looking  unto  Jesus  the  author  and  finisher  of  our 
faith."  And  especially  let  us  take  heart  in  view  of  the  con- 
cluding portion  of  the  chapter:  "Wherefore,  we  receiving  a 
kingdom  which  cannot  be  moved,  let  us  have  grace  whereby 
we  may  serve  God  acceptably  with  reverence  and  godly  fear. 
For  our  God  is  a  consuming  fire." 


liEipiTBI^S, 


Paris,  July  14,  1883. 
My  Dear  Brother,  —  I  promised  to  write  you  a  brief  line 
expressing  my  interest  in  the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of 
the  founding  of  the  Essex  Church,  occuring  Aug.  22.  I  was 
unable  to  write  before  leaving  Boston,  and  since  landing  at 
Liverpool  have  had  no  good  opportunity  until  the  present.  Our 
stay  has  been  brief,  in  places  visited,  until  we  reached  London, 
and  we  have  had  much  to  see  and  think  about.  We  have 
really  been  living,  quite  as  much  in  England  and  Scotland  of 
the  past,  as  of  the  present.  We  visited  Ambleside  and 
Grasmere ;  the  home,  the  church  and  grave  of  Wordsworth ; 
Glasgow  and  Stirling ;  saw  places  sacred  to  the  memory  of 
Bruce  and  Wallace  and  Douglass ;  the  fields  of  Stirling  and 
Bannockburn ;  Melrose  and  Dryburg  Abbeys,  and  Abbotts- 
ford,  the  home  with  the  Library  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  as  he 
left  it;  Edinburgh  with  its  Castle  and  its  Holy  Rood  and 
Memories  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scotts,  the  rooms  where  she  lived 
in  part  her  singularly  tragic  life  ;  the  house,  pulpit  and  chair  of 
John  Knox,  the  grand  old  Scottish  reformer ;  the  old  town  of 
York  with  its  Minster,  its  relics  of  Roman  days  and  honored  as 
the  birth-place  of  Constantine ;  then  London  with  so  much 
to  see,  and  now  Paris.  In  the  brief  time  alloted,  I  am  striv- 
ing to  review  the  past  as  well  as  study  the  present.  Do  you 
wonder  I  have  not  much  time  save  as  I  snatch  a  few  minutes 
here  and  there  to  write. 


i6o  Congregational  CJinrch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

To-day  all  Paris  is  alive.  It  is  the  Anniversary  of  the  tak- 
ing of  the  Bastile.  I  have  been  this  morning  to  a  grand 
review  of  Troops  (in  Bois  de  Boulogne). 

Poor  France  is  struggling  to  maintain  a  Republic,  but  on 
the  one  hand  the  struggle  is  between  the  repressed  elements 
of  parties  that  have  had  well  nigh  centuries  of  history  and 
bloodshed,  and  on  the  other,  not  between  Catholicism  and 
Protestanism,  I  wish  it  were,  then  there  would  be  more  hope 
of  grand  fulfilment,  but  between  Catholicism  and  Atheism. 
The  Government  is  largely  Atheistic.  President  Grevy  is  a 
noble  looking  man,  we  saw  him  to-day  drive  by  us  on  his  way 
to  the  Boulogne.  But  I  am  told  he  is  Atheistical,  indeed  re- 
ligious instruction  is  taken  from  the  schools,  and  the  name  of 
God  even  may  be  expunged  from  the  school  books,  and  yet 
boys  of  ten  years  are  required  to  learn  the  use  of  the  sword 
and  bayonet.  Paris  is  a  beautiful  city.  Some  have  named  it 
"The  American  Paradise."  The  contrast  with  England  is 
marked.  The  almost  absolute  cleanliness  of  streets,  and 
Boulevards,  the  tinting  and  coloring  every  where,  the  excita- 
bility of  speech  and  movement,  show  a  different  people. 
There  is  an  absence  of  English  stability.  To-day  is  the  un- 
veiling of  the  Statue  of  Liberty,  so  long  in  preparation,  and 
it  is  done  with  a  clash  between  the  Government  of  Paris  and 
that  of  the  Republic.  Soldiers  are  posted  to  keep  back  the 
mob,  and  the  President  of  the  Republic  withholds  his  pres- 
ence. 

But  I  turn  for  a  little  while  as  a  privilege  from  all  this,  to 
the  scenes,  faces  and  memories  of  dear  old  Essex.  The 
Town  I  remember  best  is  that  of  twenty  years  ago.  It  is 
no  wonder  I  love  to  hold  in  memory  those  who  had  so 
much  to  do,  outside  the  home,  in  moulding  my  own  life. 
Pardon  me  if  I  speak  of  a  few  personal  things.  Deep  in  my 
heart  do  I  keep  the  memory  of  my  two  boyhood  pastors  — 
the  first,  while  striving  personally  to  interest  me  and  aid  me 
in  a  course  of  study,  which  after  the  lapse  of  years  I  was  en- 


Two  HundrcdtJi  Anniversary .  i6i 

abled  to  pursue,  did  not  fail  to  set  before  me,  the  claims  of 
God  on  my  life.  The  second  led  me  to  Christ,  was  to  me 
brother  and  pastor  and  opened  the  way,  for  my  then  maturer 
years,  to  enter  the  Christian  Ministry.  I  remember  with 
gratitude  that  Superintendent ;  that  man  who  did  so  much  for 
Christ's  kingdom  in  the  Sabbath  School,  that  man,  who  knew 
how  to  educate,  and  not  only  laid  the  foundation  of  christian 
character  in  his  pupils  but  made  theologians  of  them.  I 
remember  the  three  Sabbath  School  teachers,  the  last  of  whom 
led  his  class  like  a  good  shepherd.  They  are  all  gone  to  the 
Spirit  land, — and  so  to  have  that  wider  circle,  many  of  whom 
were  closely  and  dearly  related,  and  some  of  them  recently 
called.  Many  a  face,  many  a  voice  comes  to  me  to-night  in 
this  great  city  of  another  continent,  and  my  memories  are 
tender.  But  you  in  review  will  go  back  to  earliest  days,  before 
the  town  had  its  present  name,  and  to  such  men  as  Wise  and 
others,  who  helped  to  make  the  first  pages  of  religious  history 
in  '^Chebacco."  Two  hundred  years!  Why  you  are  within 
eighty  years  of  Brewster  and  his  Scrooby  church,  "the  model," 
Professor  Hoppin  tells  us,  "of  all  our  New  England  churches 
to-day  !"  A  few  days  ago,  I  passed  on  the  rail,  within  a  short 
distance  of  this  "Spiritual  birth  place  of  America"  and  I  con- 
fess I  would  rather  have  visited  this  "modern  Nazareth"  than 
St.  Paul's  or  even  Westminister  in  London.  Scrooby  and 
Brewster's  church  is  not  so  very  far  behind  your  early 
history. 

John  Robinson  and  the  Speedwell  and  May  Flower  are  a 
little  nearer.  But  go  back  a  step  in  history.  Side  by  side 
in  the  Museum  of  Edinburgh  are  the  pulpit  of  John  Knox, 
and  the  Guillotine,  on  which  the  old  Scottish  Covenanters 
were  beheaded,  I  thanked  God  as  I  looked  upon  them  for  the 
brave  men  that  battled  the  storm.  But  Knox  and  Calvin 
and  kindred  spirits  clasped  hands,  and  in  the  battle  for  the 
truth  such  spirits  make  a  history.  Come  down  now,  from 
those  days,  a  century   later,  and  men  like  Brewster,  and  John 


1 62  Congregational  Chtirch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

Robinson  will  rise,  and  driven  out  of  England  by  persecution, 
with  the  pressure  of  centuries  and  Providence  behind  them, 
they  will  under  God's  lead  find  a  Plymouth  Rock,  —  Congre- 
p-ationalism  !  !  No  other  ism  was  to  be  tolerated  in  a  new 
world  by  the  Pilgrims.  All  else  was  left  behind  —  A  scion 
of  that  mighty  root  was  borne  to  your  dear  old  town  and 
planted  in  faith  and  carefully  and  prayerfully  nourished.  It 
took  root  and  has  grown.  The  fruitage  we  can  see.  Plymouth 
Rock  has  done  for  Essex  mentally,  morally  and  spiritually, 
what  eternity  alone  will  reveal.  I  revere  the  names  you  will 
revere  to-day.  I  am  greatly  disappointed  not  to  be  with  you 
to  assure  you  in  person  of  my  own  interest  in  the  church  and 
to  listen  to  those  who  will  address  you.  They  will  dwell 
upon  much  that  binds  us  together  in  the  work,  for  Christ, 
past  and  present.  What  a  difference  in  the  progress  of  the 
Gospel  among  all  stations  since  John  Wise,  was  called  home — 
(I  congratulate  you  my  brother  on  your  happy  relation  with 
that  dear  people)  God  bless  the  dear  old  Church.  I  am  with 
you  in  spirit  though  far  away.  Accept  my  heartiest  wishes 
and  sincere  prayers  for  the  success  of  your  plans  to-day. 
Read  of  this  what  you  desire  and  believe  me, 

Your  brother  in  Christ, 

Michael  Burnham. 


Rowley,  Aug.  2,  1883. 

My  Dear  Sir, — The  letter  from  yourself  and  your  associ- 
ates inviting  me  to  be  present  at  yourcelebration,  came  during 
my  absence  from  home,  and  it  must  not  be  left  longer  un- 
noticed. 

My  associations  with  your  church  are  exceedingly  pleasant, 
where  I  used  to  preach  that  Gospel  upon  which  as  a  corner 
stone,  the  fathers  and  the  children  have  rested  their  hopes. 
Many  lively  and  choice  stones  have  gone  into  that  building 
which  was  begun  among  you  two  hundred  years  ago,  and 


Two  HundredtJi  Anniversary.  1 63 

which  will    not    reach  its  completion,  and    show  its  utmost 
beauty  till  the  Lord  shall  come. 

Your  Pastor  Rev.  Mr.  Crowell,  I  had  but  little  intercourse 
with,  except  in  an  occasional  exchange,  but  know  him  to 
have  been  a  man  of  God,  who  had  a  system  of  faith  which  was 
not  the  less  desirable  to  him  because  it  had  been  the  faith  of 
the  centuries,  and  with  no  sentiment  of  which  he  thought  it 
needful  to  part  in  order  to  make  the  rest  more  defensible,  and 
the  light  of  which  was  like  that  of  the  sun,  brightest  and  best 
when  all  its  colors  were  preserved  and  blended. 

With  the  shorter  pastorate  of  Rev.  Mr.  Bacon,  I  was  some- 
what acquainted,  and  regarded  him  as  a  man  who  preached 
faithfully  the  gospel  he  professed  to  love,  and  devoted  him- 
self to  the  interests  of  the  people  who  were  committed  to  his 
care. 

There  was  one  I  used  to  meet,  David  Choate,  whom  to 
know  once  is  always  to  remember,  whose  life  was  an  "epistle 
known  and  read  of  all  men,"  and  who  will  have  as  large  a 
proportion  as  we  can  well  conceive  any  one  to  have,  of  chil- 
dren whom  he  has  instructed  and  guided,  and  over  whom  he 
will  be  permitted  to  say  to  the  Master  at  the  last,  here  am  I, 
and  the  children  thou  hast  given  me. 

These,  and  other  considerations,  rather  incline  me  to 
answer  affirmatively  your  invitation.  I  have,  however,  a  life 
infirmity  which  I  did  not  have  when  I  used  to  mingle  with 
those  who  are  gone  and  who  still  remain  among  you,  which 
anchors  me  quite  strongly  to  my  home  when  public  occasions 
would  call  me  away.  It  has  been  somewhat  increased  by 
my  return  last  month  to  the  College  where  I  graduated  fifty 
years  ago,  and  where  I  felt  obliged  to  take  certain  responsi- 
bilities for  my  Class  which  my  strength  hardly  warranted, 
and  which  make  it  uncertain  whether  it  is  suitable  for  me,  so 
soon,  to  go  again  into  a  public  assembly  where  my  mind  and 
heart  would  be  much  excited  and  interested.  I  propose, 
therefore,  not  to  positively  decline,  but  to  let  the  matter  be 


164         Congregational  CJinrcJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

under  consideration  until  I  shall  see  whether  the  increasing 
inflammation  of  my  eyes  is  likely  to  be  more  troublesome  and 
permanent.  If  I  am  able  to  come  shall  probably  bring  with 
me  the  two  members  of  my  family  who,  having  shared  the 
griefs  of  my  home,  I  shall  desire  to  share  with  me  in  all 
the  interest  your  glad  occasion  may  impart. 

Very  truly  yours, 

J.  Pike. 

To  Caleb  S.  Gage  and  others,  Committee 
of  First  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 


The  following  sketch  of  Mr.  Webster  was  read  by  Mr.  Palmer  before  tlie  reading  of 
the  letter  from  Rev.  J.  C.  Webster.     See  Hist.  Essex  p.  263. 


"Nov.  13,  1799  Rev.  Josiah  Webster  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  church 
as  successor  to  Mr.  Cleaveland.  Rev.  Stephen  Peabody,  of  Atkinson  N. 
H.  preached  the  ordination  sermon. 

In  1806,  having  requested  a  dismission, *a  mutual  council  is  called,  and 
bj  their  advice  his  pastoral  relation  is  dissolved  on  the  23  of  July. 

The  reason  for  this  action  v^^as  briefly  as  follows.  At  Mr.  Webster's  set- 
tlement the  parish  gave  him  $500  as  a  donation,  or  settlement  as  it  was 
called.  His  annual  salary  was  $334  and  the  parsonage.  As  the  currency 
diminished  in  value  his  salary  became  insufBcient.  The  parish  voted  to 
allow  $100  from  j^ear  to  year  as  should  be  found  necessary.  The  pas-tor 
was  satisfied  with  the  amount  of  this  addition  but  insisted  that  it  should 
be  made  a  part  of  the  orignal  contract.  The  parish  thought  their  pastor 
should  have  confidence  in  their  good  will  to  vote  the  addition  yearly  along 
with  the  rest  of  the  salary.  It  was  upon  this  issue  that  the  pastoral  relation 
was  dissolved  at  Mr.  Webster's  request. 

He  was  afterwards  settled  in  Hampton,  N.  H.  June  8,  1808  where  after  a, 
quiet  and  successful  ministry  he  died  March  27,  1837,  aged  65. 

In  the  twelfth  vol.  of  the  American  Qviarterly  Register  there  is  a  bio- 
graphical sketch  of  him  from  which  these  extracts  have  been  taken. 

"Rev.  Josiah  Webster,  the  son  of  Nathan  and  Elizabeth  Webster  was 
born  in  Chester,  N.  H.  Jan.  16,  1772. 

His  father  was  a  farmer,  barely  in  circumstances  of  comfort,  with  patient, 
laborious  industry,  providing  for  the  wants  of  a  large  family,  and  therefore 
unable  to  furnish  more  than  a  common  school  education  for  his  children. 

Josiah,  the  eldest,  in  his  i6th  year  went  to  reside  with  an  uncle,  whose 
aftairs  he  managed  in  his  many  and  long  absences.  But  for  a  long  time 
he  had  felt  a  strong  desire  to  become  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  though 
he  had  acquired  only  sufficient  property  to  defray  the  expenses  of  prepara- 


Tivo  HiindredtJi  Anniva'sary.  165 

tion  for  college,  and  was  distressed  and  discouraged  by  the  opposition  of 
his  friends,  in  his  19th  year  he  repaired  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Remington,  of 
Candia,  under  whose  hospitable  roof  he  began  his  studies.  Afterwards 
he  spent  a  year  under  the  tuition  of  that  eminent  Christian,  Rev.  Dr. 
Thayer  of  Kingston,  and  completed  his  preparation  at  the  Academy  in 
Atkinson.  It  was  at  Kingston  that  he  indulged  the  hope  of  reconciliation 
to  God,  and  of  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  life.  A  deeper  con- 
sciousness of  sin  than  he  had  ever  felt  before,  pressed  upon  his  heart,  so 
full  of  distress  and  alarm  that  for  several  days  he  was  unable  to  pursue  his 
studies.  After  a  season  of  deep  conviction,  light  broke  out  upon  his  mind, 
'like  a  morning  of  Summer  just  as  the  sun  rises,  when  the  winds  are 
hushed,  and  a  solemn  but  delightful  stillness  prevails  everywhere  and  the 
face  of  nature  smiles  with  verdure  and  flowers,' 

From  Atkinson  he  took  a  journey  of  more  than  eighty  miles  to  Dart- 
mouth College,  for  the  mere  purpose  of  examination  and  admission  to 
college.  His  poverty  prevented  his  remaining  a  single  week  to  enjoy  its 
advantages.  Returning  to  Atkinson  he  pursued  his  studies  under  the  in- 
struction of  the  preceptor  Stephen  P.  Webster,  until  the  Spring  of  1795, 
when  with  little  improvement  in  the  state  of  his  funds  he  rejoined  his  class 
in  College,  and  completed  his  first  year.  At  the  close  of  the  vacation, 
though  disappointed  in  every  effort  to  raise  money  among  his  friends  he 
once  more  set  his  face  toward  College.  By  a  mysterious  providence  of 
God  he  fell  in  company  with  a  stranger,  who,  learning  his  condition,  with- 
out solicitation  offered  to  relieve  his  necessities  by  a  loan  of  money  to  be 
repaid  whenever  his  circumstances  should  permit.  The  traveler  was 
afterward  ascertained  to  be  a  merchant  of  Newburyport.  After  graduating 
in  the  year  1798,  he  studied  theology  with  Rev.  Stephen  Peabody,  the  min- 
ister of  Atkinson,  about  a  year,  and  was  then  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel 
by  the  Haverhill  Association.  Soon  after  he  was  invited  to  preach  as  a 
candidate  in  Chebacco  Parish,  Ipswich,  where,  Nov.  1799,  he  was  ordained. 
After  his  dismission  from  that  pastorate  on  account  of  the  inadequacy  of 
his  support,  he  was  invited  to  preach  to  the  church  at  Hampton,  N.H.,  and 
was  installed  there,  June  8,  1808.  During  his  ministry  at  Hampton  there 
were  several  revivals  of  religion  as  the  fruit  of  which  one  hundred  and 
seventy  persons  were  gathered  into  the  church. 

It  deserves  to  be  recorded  to  the  lasting  honor  of  Mr.  Webster  that  he 
perceived  the  evil  effects  of  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  at  a  period  when  even 
the  eyes  of  good  men  were  generally  closed  to  the  subject.  Almost  from 
the  first  of  his  ministry  he  preached  against  intemperance,  and  for  years 
before  the  temperance  reformation,  observed  entire  abstinence  from  all  that 
intoxicates. 

He  was  also  deeply  interested  in  the  cause  of  education.  To  his  influence 
and  agency,  the  Academy  in  Hampton,  one  of  the  most  respectable  and 
flourishing  institutions  in  the  State,  is  indebted  for  much  of  its  character 
and  usefulness. 


1 66  Congregational  CJiiwch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

Attached  to  the  faith  and  institutions  of  our  fathers,  the  doctrines  of 
grace  he  understood  and  loved,  and  preached  to  the  very  close  of  his  life. 
His  last  public  act  was  the  preaching  of  the  sermon  at  the  ordination  of 
his  son  Rev.  John  C.  Webster  at  Newburjport,  as  seaman's  preacher  at 
Cronstadt  Russia  March  15,  1837.  Anxious  to  perform  the  service  assigned 
him  on  that  occasion,  he  made  an  effort  his  impared  health  was  unable  to 
sustain.  The  day  following  he  returned  home,  and  taking  his  bed  remarked 
that  he  thought  his  work  on  earth  was  done.  'Well'  said  he  'if  it  be  so,  I 
know  not  with  what  act  I  could  close  life  with  more  satisfaction.'  He  died 
of  inflammation  of  the  lungs.  During  his  sickness,  his  mind  was  often 
alienated,  but  in  lucid  intervals  he  uniformly  expressed  confidence  in  the 
mercy  of  God,  and  cast  himself  upon  the  blood  of  atonement. 

His  funeral  sermon,  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dana,  is  highly  commen- 
datory of  his  ministerial  qualifications,  devotion  to  his  proper  work,  and 
his  extensive  usefulness.  Mr.  Webster  published  five  discourses  delivered 
on  different  occasions." 

Wheaton,  III.,  Aug.  3,  1883. 
Rev.  F.  H.  Palmer:  Dear  Brother, — Though  I  am  a 
personal  stranger  to  you,  and  probably,  to  all  in  your  church 
and  parish,  allow  me  to  express  my  interest  in  the  two  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  your  church,  which  I  notice  is  at 
hand,  from  the  fact  that  my  father  was  pastor  of  it  the  first 
six  years  of  the  present  century.  And  though  he  left  Essex, 
then  Chebacco  parish  in  Ipswich,  before  I  was  born,  some 
of  my  earliest  and  very  pleasant  reminiscences  are  with 
your  town.  The  names  of  its  Choates,  Lows,  Burnhams 
and  others  were  household  words  in  our  family  during  all  the 
first  years  of  my  life.  And  I  know  my  father  carried  to  his 
grave  the  fondest  remembrance  of  many  of  the  associations 
of  that,  his  first  pastoral  love. 

I  may,  therefore,  be  excused  for  thinking  it  not  inappro- 
priate to  contribute,  for  use  as  it  may  be  thought  best,  a  few 
extracts  from  letters  in  my  possession,  written  years  ago,  in- 
dicative of  the  kind  and  high  esteem  in  which  my  father  was 
held  by  some  of  his  parishioners,  who  were  natives  or  citizens 
of  Essex,  whose  professional  and  national  reputation  has 
scarcely  been  excelled,  and  of  whom  the  town  may  very  justly 
be  proud. 


Two  HiindrcdtiL  Anniversary.  167 

Under  date,  Cincinnati  Ohio,  Dec.  5,  1856,  R.  D.  Mussey 
M.  D.  one  of  the  most  distinguished  physicians  and  surgeons 
of  the  U.  S.  wrote  as  follows : 

**My  first  acquaintance  with  him  was  in  the  parish  of  Ips- 
wich, now  Essex,  Mass.,  while  he  was  the  pastor  of  the  church 
in  that  place.  It  was  in  great  measure  due  to  his  efficient 
friendship  that,  young  and  inexperienced,  I  gained  an  early  in- 
troduction to  professional  practice.  No  spirit  of  jealousy,  envy 
or  concealment  seemed  to  have  found  a  place  in  the  bosom 
of  Mr.  Webster.  *  *  And  now  after  the  lapse  of  fifty 
years,  the  impressions  of  his  cordial  salutations,  whether  at 
his  home  or  on  the  street,  made  with  a  firm  grasp  of  the 
hand,  a  rich  and  benignant  smile  often  accompanied  with  the 
announcement  of  some  item  of  intelligence  on  a  topic  of  mu- 
tual interest,  comes  up  with  the  freshness  of  yesterday. 

As  a  preacher,  Mr.  Webster  was  solemn  and  impressive. 
His  exhibitions  of  truth  were  clear,  intelligible  and  direct, 
not  encumbered  with  verboseness  nor  metaphysical  subtilties, 
but  adapted  to  the  comprehension  of  all  classes  of  hearers, 
and  uttered  with  an  earnestness  and  ardor,  which  showed 
how  deeply  he  was  impressed  with  the  magnitude  and  respon- 
sibility of  the  gospel  ministry." 

Hon.  David  Choate,  under  date,  Essex,  April  18,  1870 
wrote : 

"The  impressive  yet  affectionate  solemnity  of  your  father 
more  especially  in,  but  often  ont  of  the  pulpit  was  a  striking 
feature  —  how  he  would  glow  as  he  advanced  both  in  prayer 
and  preaching,  rising  from  half  inarticulate  utterance  to  the 
full  swellings  of  a  rich  and  mellow  voice,  increasing  frequently 
to  the  end.  And  then  it  was  more  especially  that  the  gran- 
dure  of  the  Amen  was. so  overwhelming,  always  in  the  prayers, 
and,  I  think,  always  at  the  close  of  the  sermon.  And  the 
Amen,  I  have  never  yet  forgotten,  was  uttered,  as  a  part  of 
the  prayer,  and  never  as  a  word  added  to  it;  thus  giving 
more  than  mortal  significance  to  it     *     *     *     I  have  often 


1 68  Congregational  ChnrcJi  and  Parish,  Essex. 

times  wished  your  father's  manner  in  pronouncing  the  Amen 
might  be  revived.  I  have  seen  an  audience  so  Hfted  up  by  it, 
so  filled  with,  it,  that  after  its  utterance  he  would  himself  be 
calmly  occupying  his  seat  long  before  the  people  began  to 
sit  down  or  could  think  he  was  done,  —  "they  thought  him 
still  speaking,  still  stood  firm  to  hear."  I  assure  you  this  is 
no  fancy  sketch,  it  began  in  my  childhood,  I  could  never  for- 
get it:    I  never  shall." 

Hon.  Rufus  Choate  wrote  as  follows  from  Boston,  July  27, 

1857: 

"He  had  times  of  hearing  the    children  of  the  parish  in 

their  catechism,  and  his  appearance  then  and  in  the  pulpit 
are  all  blended  in  my  recollections,  into  one  general  impres- 
sion of  a  certain  dignity  of  goodness.  What  led  to  his  dis- 
missal I  do  not  know  *  *  *  Three  or  four  years  after- 
ward, passing  that  way  he  was  invited  to  preach  in  his  own 
pulpit,  and  the  house  was  crowded  as  at  an  ordination,  [which 
in  those  days,  meant  a  crowd] . 

When  boarding  in  his  family  for  five  or  six  months  in  181  5, 
[at  Hampton,  N.H.]  while  preparing  for  college,  his  kindness 
during  all  that  time  was  so  uniform,  his  councils  regarding 
studies,  deportment  and  a  good  life,  so  anxious,  parental  and 
wise,  that  I  remember  him  as  a  son  remembers  his  father, 
and  would  as  little  attempt  an  analysis  of  his  character  or 
critical  estimate  of  his  intellectual  and  professional  claims 
and  rank.  *  *  *  jj^  \^\^  general  manner  he  was  serious. 
He  held  the  very  highest  tone  of  the  orthodox  opinions  of 
his  school  and  preached  them  without  shade  or  accommoda- 
tion. But  his  disposition  was  gentle  and  affectionate,  his  en- 
joyment of  beauty  in  nature,  music,  literature  and  eloquence 
enthusiastic  and  tasteful ;  his  occasional  laugh  unforced  and 
most  pleasant,  and  his  conversation  instructive  and  full  of 
illustrative  anecdote.  I  do  not  know  what  were  the  judg- 
ments of  his  clerical  brethren,  but,  if  I  may  trust  my  own 
distinct   recollection,   he  was  among  the   most  graceful  and 


Two  Hiuidredth  Anniversary,  169 

most  chaste  of  the  elocutionists  of  the  pulpit  of  that  time 
and  that  Association." 

Were  it  practicable,  it  would  afford  me  great  pleasure  to 
be  present  at  your  celebration.  It  must  be  one  of  unusual 
historic  and  general  interest.  And  I  shall  esteem  it  a  great 
favor  to  receive  from  you  any  published  account  of  it. 

Very  fraternally  yours, 

J.  C.  Webster. 


BoxFORD,  Aug,  2bth,  1883. 

Gentlemen y  —  Accept  my  thanks  for  your  kind  invitation 
to  be  present  on  the  interesting  occasion  you  are  to  observe 
on  the  22nd  inst.,  an  invitation  with  which  I  should  gladly 
comply,  if  my  health  permitted. 

Among  the  names,  so  far  as  my  knowledge  extends,  which 
have  rendered  Essex  memorable,  two  are  very  prominent — 
Crowell  and  Choate  {^'par  nobile  fratriim^')  the  one,  for  a 
long  period  pastor  of  the  Church  ;  the  other,  for  several  years, 
an  officer  in  the  Church  and  superintendent  of  the  Sabbath 
School. 

Dr.  Crowell  was  in  the  prime  of  life  when  I,  as  a  young 
man,  first  came  to  this  town.  From  the  very  beginning  of 
my  acquaintance,  I  was  led  highly  to  esteem  him.  He  was 
a  sound  and  able  preacher.  I  was  accustomed  to  make  a 
yearly  exchange  with  him,  and  my  people  were  always  glad 
to  see  him  in  the  pulpit. 

Dea.  Choate,  besides  possessing  many  other  excellent  qual- 
ities, I  remember  as  peculiarly  original  and  entertaining  in 
his  method  of  conducting  the  Sabbath  School. 

It  may  well  be  said  of  these  sainted  men  that  ''Being  dead, 
they  yet  speak."  The  blessed  influence  of  their  instructions 
and  example  will  long  be  felt. 


I/O  Congregational  Church  a?id  Parish,  Essex. 

On  the  day  you  are  to  observe,  mention  will  undoubtedly 
be  made  of  many  other  worthies  now  in  glory.  May  the 
occasion,  and  its  results,  be  to  you  all  that  you  can  desire  ! 

Yours  very  truly, 
Wm.  S.  Coggin. 

To  Messrs.  Gage,  Cogswell,  atid  others, 
Committee  of  Church  and  Parish. 


Sabbath  SGHOoii  r^is^Por^Y, 


In  the  absence  of  the  Address  on  the  Sabbath  School  which  was  expected  at  the  Anni- 
versary, the  Cliurch  voted  Oct.  2:W,  1883  that  the  following  Historical  Address  delivered 
at  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Sabbath  School  Dec.  26,  1864,  by  the  Superintendent 
Dea.  David  Choate,  be  published  in  this  volume. 


Dear  friends  !  twice  five  and  twenty  years  ago  ! 
Alas  !  how  time  escapes,  —  'tis  even  so  ! 

It  was  nearly  in  this  manner,  that  the  Enghsh  Poet  began 
his  letter  to  his  friend.  He  indeed  had  the  lapse  of  only  once 
that  section  of  man's  life  to  mourn,  —  we  have  it  twice. 

Whether  on  a  review,  our  joy  should  be  greater  than  his 
for  having  survived  the  longer  campaign; — or  whether  our 
sorrow  should  overbalance  for  the  reason  that  so  many  more 
have  fallen  by  our  side  to  renew  the  battles  of  life  no  more, 
it  may  not  be  easy  to  decide. 

''Twice  five  and  twenty  years"  !  How  difficult,  how  impos- 
sible to  realize  the  flight  of  so  vast  a  portion  of  human  life  ! 
Do  you  ask,  where  is  the  age,  the  manhood,  the  maidens 
fair,  the  children  sweet  of  fifty  years  ago?  I  should  answer 
of  all  the  first,  and  many  of  the  second  class,  in  the  words 
of  Doct.  Daniel  Hopkins  heard  here  in  my  earliest  boyhood, 
"They  are  all  gone  down  into  the  grave,  minister  and  all"  ! 
Do  you  ask  after  \\\^  young  men  and  \\\^  fair  maidens}  Alas  ! 
the  survivors  of  them  have  slid  or  are  sliding  into  the  arm- 
chair of  life.  And  if  the  second  generation  of  those  "sweet 
children'  are  with  us  here  to-day,  what  time  of  life  I  ask,  do 
you  think  it  is  with  them'} 


1/2  Congregational  Church  and  Parish^  Essex. 

We  are  still  however  far,  I  apprehend,  from  appreciating 
all  that  is  implied  in  the  space  of  fifty  years.  Let  us  look  a 
moment  outside  these  venerated  walls  and  see  how  the  world 
itself  has  moved  on  since  the  first  classes  assembled  around 
the  newly  ordained  minister.  Take  a  short  walk  about  town. 
The  same  river  still  runs  between  the  same  banks.  The  same 
fine  sheet  of  water,  rolling  down  the  same  gentle  Falls,  still 
supplies  it,  thence  rolling  onward  to  the  sea.  You  see  the 
same  woodlands  and  the  same  salt  meadows  —  almost  the  same 
King-fisher  and  Robin  seem  to  fly  over  us: — But  with  the 
exception  of  the  unchanged  face  of  unchanging  nature,  how 
changed  is  all  beside  !  Old  Chebacco  becomes  the  namesake 
of  the  county.  Her  population  more  stationary  than  other 
things,  has  yet  gone  up  from  about  twelve  hundred  to  seven- 
teen hundred,  notwithstanding  small  but  unreturning  swarms 
have  been  going  away  from  the  parent  hive.  Two  hundred 
dwelling  houses,  or  nearly  so,  five  school  houses  and  two 
churches  have  been  built  and  one  remodeled.  The  little 
Pinkey  of  twelve  to  fifteen  tons,  drawn  upon  wheels,  has  be- 
come the  tall  schooner  of  i  50  or  200.  And  as  a  fine  comment 
upon  the  industry  and  economy  of  the  people,  the  wealth  of 
the  town  has  advanced  in  these  fifty  years  from  $258,000  by 
the  assessors'  books  in  18 19,  to  $930,000  being  three  and  six 
tenths  times  as  gredt  now  as  then. 

A  moments  glance  at  the  outside  world  may  aid  still  further 
in  taking  in  the  great  idea  of  fifty  years.  Since  the  day  when 
one  of  the  earliest  Sabbath  School  Scholars  whose  step  is  still 
firm,  repeated  the  176  verses  of  the  1 19th  Psalm,  a  thing  never 
since  done  I  believe  at  one  lesson,  every  Railroad  in  America 
has  been  built. 

The  idea  of  a  Telegraph  wire  either  through  the  air  or 
under  the  sea,  had  entered  no  man's  mind  until  this  Sabbath 
School  had  been  in  operation  eighteen  years.  Within  less  than 
one  half  of  the  time  of  our  Sabbath  School  existence  Steam 
Power  which  had  already  one  foot  upon  the  land,  has  set  the 


Two  Hiuidredth  Anniversary.  173 

other  down  upon  the  sea.  And  although  we  may  not  say  with 
Campbell,  I  believe,  that  "the  Roman  Empire  has  begun  and 
ended"  since  that  day,  yet  an  empire  larger  by  far  than  ever 
the  Roman  was,  has  been  acquired  by  us  and  added  to  us. 
Since  the  early  classes  were  assembled  within  these  dear  old 
walls,  sixteen  states  have  been  added  to  the  Union,  while  I 
deny  that  any  have  dropped  out  of  it.  Sixteen  states  I  say 
of  such  magnitude  as  would  make  164  like  Massachusetts, 
besides  territory  enough  to  make  six  and  thirty  more.  And 
while  these  lessons  have  been  going  on,  we  have  seen  thirteen 
Presidents  of  these  United  States.  The  country  has  endured 
twelve  party  conflicts,  some  of  which  have  been  nearly  con- 
vulsive, and  yet  every  one  of  them  has  subsided  within  a 
week  after  the  struggle,  as  did  the  severest  and  the  last. 

Such  is  a  glance  at  a  few  of  the  events  that  have  transpired 
outside  the  Sabbath  School  room  during  the  past  fifty  years. 
But  I  see  and  feel  how  inadequate  all  this  has  been  to  pro- 
mote the  object  I  have  desired,  and  dismiss  it  with  very  little 
satisfaction. 

The  precise  day  and  hour  when  our  Sabbath  School  be- 
gan to  assemble  around  the  old  Pulpit  cannot  now  be  de- 
termined. The  utter  absence  of  Records  is  most  painfully 
felt  this  day.  The  following  statement  of  its  origin  however, 
collected  from  various  conversations  with  the  founder  himself 
was  read  in  his  hearing  July  4,  1849,  and  it  is  believed  he  ap- 
proved it,  as  he  made  no  objection  to  it  either  then  or  at  any 
other  time.  The  following  is  the  language,  "The  experiment 
of  organizing  a  Sabbath  School  in  the  town  of  Essex,  then 
Chebacco,  was  first  made  by  Rev.  Robert  Crowell,  our  present 
pastor,  in  the  Summer  of  18 14,  and  within  a  few  weeks  after 
his  ordination.  He  met  the  children,  then  thirty  to  forty  in 
number,  in  the  pews  fronting  the  pulpit,  at  the  ringing  of  the 
first  bell  in  the  morning,  and  heard  them  repeat  verses  of 
Scripture  and  Hymns.  The  school  was  discontinued  through 
the  Winter  for  several  successive  years." 


1/4  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

It  is  known  by  documentary  evidence,  that  the  ordination 
referred  to,*  took  place  on  August  lO,  1814,  and  the  expres- 
sion "within  a  few  weeks  after  the  ordination,"  would  lead  us 
to  believe  that  in  September  or  October  the  School  began  to 
assemble. 

The  earliest  Record  relating  to  the  school  known  to  exist 
is  dated  October  14,  1828,  and  reads  as  follows,  viz. :  "At  a 
meeting  of  the  Managers  of  the  Essex  Sabbath  School,  voted 
Samuel  Burnham,  Superintendent  for  one  year:  Voted  that 
the  following  persons  be  requested  to  instruct  in  the  Sabbath 
School  for  one  year,  viz. :  J.  S.  Burnham,  U.  G.  Spofford,  Caleb 
Cogswell,  Joseph  Perkins,  Zacheus  Burnham,  John  Mears,  Jr., 
William  Henry  Mears,  —  Louisa  Crowell,  Lucy  Choate,  Mary 
Boyd,  Sally  Burnham,  Elizabeth  Perkins,  Lydia  Perkins,  Clara 
Perkins,  Sally  Bowers,  Betsey  Kinsman,  Elizabeth  Proctor : 
Voted  David  Choate  Assistant  Superintendent.  And  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Managers,  Dec.  2,  1829,  voted  that  there  be 
two  Superintendents,  viz. :  S.  Burnham,  and  D.  Choate." 

It  was  also  voted  that  there  be  two  Librarians,  viz. :  U.  G. 
Spofiford  and  J.  S.  Burnham;  the  teachers  of  last  year  were 
re-chosen  for  one  year  more  with  the  following  in  addition, 
Francis  Burnham,  Adoniram  Story,  Philemon  S.  Eveleth, 
Mrs.  Hannah  C.  Crowell,  Miss  Abigail  P.  Choate,  Mrs.  Sally 
Burnham,  Mrs.  E.  W.  Choate,  Mrs.  Mina  Burnham,  Miss 
Sally  Norton. 

Twenty  of  the  above  twenty-seven  teachers  for  these  two 
years,  were  the  fruits  of  the  first  revival  of  religion  after  the 
opening  of  the  Sabbath  School  and  which  commenced  late  in 
the  autumn  of  1827. 

No  list  of  the  members  of  the  school  for  the  first  seventeen 
years  can  now  be  found.  A  full  record  however,  of  the  mem- 
bers, in  the  hand  writing  of  the  Founder  of  the  School,  as  it 
stood  in  1 83  I  has  been  carefully  preserved,  and  is  of  much 
historical  value.  The  whole  number  attendmg  as  pupils  was 
then  140,  of  whom  84  had  left  when  the  present  Superinten- 
dent began  to  act  as  such  in  the  summer  of  1837. 


Two  Hundredth  Anniversary.  175 

It  would  at  first  seem  a  natural  division  of  a  Historical 
sketch  of  the  Sabbath  School  at  the  close  of  its  50th  year,  to 
take  each  of  the  five  decades  by  itself.  In  the  operations  of  the 
School  however,  there  seems  nothing  particularly  distinctive. 
One  decade  runs  into  another,  and  as  there  would  be  the  un- 
avoidable overlapping,  ^ndi  more  especially  as  even  the  greatest 
latitude  of  time  will  require  whole  years  to  be  crowded  into 
a  word,  or  omitted  altogether,  a  running  sketch  of  detached 
events  is  all  that  can  be  attempted,  and  not  always  regarding 
strictly  chronological  order,  even  then. 

An  uncertainty  to  us,  hangs  over  the  time  when  the  change 
was  made  from  simply  committing  Scripture,  and  a  Question 
book  was  introduced.  The  first  zvritten  evidence  we  have  is 
the  following.  "At  a  Meeting  of  the  Managers  of  the  Sabbath 
School  Oct.  14,  1828,  it  was  voted  to  recommend  'Judson's 
Questions'  for  the  use  of  the  school  and  that  brother  Francis 
Burnham  be  a  committee  to  procure  two  dozen  of  them."  It 
seems  probable  that  this  was  the  first  use  of  a  Question  Book, 
and  they  continued  to  be  used  until  in  July,  1843,  their  use 
was  discontinued  by  vote  of  the  teachers ;  and  this  discontin- 
uance lasted  through  eleven  consecutive  years. 

Our  Sabbath  School  is  the  child  of  the  Church.  Although 
this  idea  has  been  sometimes  repudiated,  there  is  still  evidence 
of  its  truth  in  our  case  the  most  abundant. 

To  say  nothing  of  the  fact,  that  the  minister  brought  the 
school  into  existence,  rocked  it  in  its  cradle,  and  carried  it' in 
his  arms  for  whole  years  together,  the  Church  itself  as  early  as 
August,  1828,  procured  Watts' Catechism  at  its  own  expense, 
for  the  little  ones  of  the  school,  and  on  the  7th  of  December, 
1829,  the  Church  voted  to  appropriate  the  sum  of  $15  for 
the  purchase  of  a  Library,  and  again  on  the  6th  of  May,  1832, 
eight  dollars  more  for  the  same  purpose.  In  Jan.  1838,  the 
Church  bought  two  dozen  more  Question  Books,  and  three 
dozen  Catechisms.  The  great  expenditure  for  Bibles,  begun 
in  1849,  will  be  referred  to  again. 


1/6  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

But  If  a  cloud  of  uncertainty  hangs  over  the  time  when 
committing  Scripture  exclusively  gave  way  to  the  Question 
Book,  a  still  deeper  one  rests  upon  the  time  when  the  transi- 
tion of  the  School  from  the  hands  of  its  Founder,  to  those 
of  its  first  Superintendent,  Capt.  Samuel  Burnham,  was  made. 
Probably  it  was  done  gradually.  That  early  Superintendent 
is  not  fully  able  to  recollect  the  time  when  he  first  came  into 
the  School.  Female  teachers  are  believed  to  have  heard  the 
classes  at  first  when  the  pastor  was  absent  on  exchange.  The 
first  male  teachers  were  probably  non-professors ;  indeed, 
they  must  have  been  ;  and  with  two  or  three  exceptions  this 
must  have  continued  until  the  Revival  of  religion  in  1828. 

The  learning  and  reciting  of  Watts'  Psalms  and  Hymns  in 
connection  with  the  Bible  lessons,  was  more  popular  with  the 
School  for  the  first  five  or  six  years,  beginning  in  1838,  than 
it  has  been  since.  The  138th  Hymn,  ist  Book  was  quite  a  fa- 
vorite, if  we  may  judge  from  the  number  who  committed  it. 
The  hymn  commences  with  the  verse — 

"Firm  as  the  earth,  thj  gospel  stands, 
Mj  Lord,  my  hope,  my  trust; 
If  I  am  found  in  Jesus'  hands. 
My  soul  can  ne'er  be  lost." 

This  Hymn  was  committed  twenty-six  years  ago,  and 
twenty-five  out  of  the  thirty-one  who  learned  it,  are  believed 
to  be  still  living.  Of  the  six  not  living,  some,  we  are  certain, 
died  in  the  undoubting  belief  that  being  "found  in  Jesus' 
hands  their  souls  would  ne'er  be  lost." 

Among  other  hymns  committed  by  the  school  during  the 
years  referred  to,  were  those  beginning 

"Stand  up  my  soul,  shake  off  thy  fears" — 

"Life  is  the  time  to  serve  the  Lord" — 

"Thus  far  the  Lord  hath  led  me  on" — 

"There  is  a  land  of  pure  delight" — 

"Lo!  on  a  narrow  neck  of  land" — 

"Lord  I  am  thine,  but  thou  wilt  prove 
My  faith,  my  patience,  and  my  love." 


Tzvo  Hundredth  Anniversary.  177 

These  are  only  specimens,  I  give  them  by  special  request, 
as  the  recollection  of  them  is  dear  to  many  hearts. 

A  call  for  volunteers  in  1839  to  read  the  Bible  through 
without  the  offer  of  any  reward  whatever,  was  responded  to 
by  136,  not  including  teachers.  These  were  all  called  on  at 
two  different  times  to  report  progress.  A  few  (one  certainly) 
had  finished  the  whole  before  the  first  inquiry.  How  much 
was  read  after  the  second  inquiry  cannot  now  be  known.  Some, 
no  doubt,  left  the  great  body  of  the  book  unread.  But  on 
summing  up  the  chapters  as  given  in  by  those  who  read,  the 
number  was  29,991  ;  — equal  to  reading  the  whole  Bible  by 
25  readers,  with  272  verses  to  spare.  All  were  charged  to 
read  names  of  persons  and  places  with  care.  My  belief  is, 
that  much  of  this  reading  was  too  rapid.  Indeed,  when  in 
1852,  on  the  suggestion  of  a  distinguished  neighboring  cler- 
gyman, a  large  number  entered  upon  the  plan  of  reading  the 
Bible  through  in  a  year  by  reading  three  chapters  on  each 
and  every  week  day,  and  five  on  every  Sabbath,  I  became 
more  than  ever  convinced  that  the  reading  was  quite  to  rapid 
to  derive  lasting  good  from  it.  I  have  never  encouraged  such 
hasty  reading  since,  and  I  probably  never  shall  again. 

If  Dr.  Taylor  of  Norwich  could  read  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans  through  seventeen  times,  and  never  find  the  doctrine 
of  Atonement  in  it,  as  he  said  he  did,  though  it  is  admitted 
that  his  prejudice  like  an  extinguisher  upon  a  candle  would 
be  pretty  effectual  against  receiving  light  from  it,  as  Mr. 
Newton  said  was  the  case; — yet  I  ask  were  not  some  of  his 
readings  probably  too  rapid,  to  admit  of  his  discovering  that 
pearl  of  great  price? 

I  was  about  to  speak  of  a  system  of  class  papers  kept  by 
the  teachers  for  a  few  years,  reporting  the  doings  and  conduct 
of  the  members,  but  must  pass  that  with  much  other  matter 
relating  to  the  machinery  of  Sabbath  Schools. 

So  of  five  pages  of  statistics,  I  must  omit  the  details  and 
give  only  a  few  results.     Since  our  fourth  of  July  celebration 

23 


178  Congregational  Chnrch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

in  1859,  when  a  full  report  was  made,  the  school  has  contri- 
buted for  benevolent  purposes  $442.99,  —  Expended  at  home 
on  Libraries,  library  cases,  and  incidentals  $185. 

Reading  for  Soldiers  $102.  Missionary  operations  $109. 
Whole  amount  contributed,  disbursed,  mostly  abroad  since 
July  1849,  back  of  which  date  I  have  not  reckoned,  $1015.72, 
leaving  however  a  balance  of  $32.74  on  hand.  —  I  must  omit 
all  details  of  our  numbers,  except  the  fact  that  from  and  since 
1 83 1  when  the  record  of  them  begins,  the  whole  number  is 
724.  Of  their  present  residences  and  upon  their  occupations, 
I  must  be  reluctantly  silent,  or  only  say,  that  of  72,  we  have 
lost  all  knowledge,  and  that  40  of  our  late  or  former  number, 
are,  or  have  been  in  the  army  or  navy  —  that  of  these,  seven 
will  return  no  more  by  reason  of  death.  Of  Marriages,  42 
females,  and  19  male  members,  either  present,  late,  or  at  some 
former  time  have  entered  the  marriage  state  since  the  com- 
mencement of  1854 — 23  young  men  never  members,  have 
sought  and  found  their  brides  in  our  Sabbath  School,  and  led 
them  to  the  altar,  —  and  finally  I  mention  the  vase  once  filled 
with  beautiful  flowers,  now  changed  to  dried  leaves,  and  smell- 
ing of  death.  Seventy-three  late  or  former  members  have 
died  since  the  beginning  of  1850,  26  of  them  being  abroad 
(including  the  Soldiers).  One  precious  teacher  Mrs.  Cogswell 
and  one  dear  pupil,  Mary  A.  Andrews  have  died  since  this  oc- 
casion was  contemplated. 

The  whole  number  now  enrolled  is  338,  of  whom  184  are 
over  15  years  of  age  —143  between  5  and  15  —  and  12  under 
5,  —  91  belong  to  the  Infant  Department. 

It  is  disagreeable  to  pass  over  the  Sabbaths,  the  months 
and  the  years  of  our  history  in  so  much  silence.  Character 
has  been  developed  sometimes  with  amazing  rapidity.  A 
small  turn  of  the  moral  kaleidoscope,  has  often  presented 
character  in  a  new  light  entirely.  The  minds  and  hearts  of 
children  are  being  constantly  developed,  in  some  new  and 
often  unexpected  form.     Something  of  all  this  is  known,  but 


Tivo  Hundrcdtli  Anniversary.  179 

more  is  unknown,  except  as  revealed  by  events,  sometimes 
long  years  afterward.  A  boy  has  sometimes  appeared  to  be 
attending  closely  to  all  that  was  said  in  Sabbath  School,  when  it 
was  subsequently  found  that  he  was  meditating  a  robbery  and 
really  perpetrated  it  before  sundown  on  the  same  day.  Another 
would  seem  careless  and  would  half  break  his  teacher's  heart, 
when  there  was  afterwards  some  reason  to  think  that  under 
that  unpropitious  exterior  there  was  a  hopeful  upspringing 
plant,  and  the  boy  was  laying  up  treasure  in  heaven  !  One 
great  defect  in  the  working  of  the  Sabbath  School,  is  the 
want  of  power  to  collect  the  scintillations  of  thought  struck 
out  in  the  classes,  and  then  bring  them  together,  and  let  the 
rays  commingle  and  the  light  be  held  up  where  all  may  see 
it.  Who  is  to  be  the  Prof.  Morse  of  the  Sunday  School 
laying  a  telegraph  wire  from  each  class  to  the  Superintendent's 
desk? 

While  upon  this  point  of  bringing  ont  character  in  the 
Sunday  School,  I  would  love  to  recur  to  a  few,  perhaps  for- 
gotten incidents,  and  by  many  never  known,  for  the  reason 
that  it  may  bear  with  advantage  on  the  future.  When  in 
1852  we  were  upon  the  character  of  Mary,  last  at  the  cross, 
and  first  at  the  Sepulchre,  it  seemed  proper  to  ask  for  an 
imitation  of  that  trait  in  any  cross  bearing  matter  relating  to 
the  Sunday  School.  We  were  then  reviewing  the  Catechism 
publicly  once  a  month.  Some  were  occasionally  absent  on 
that  day.  I  had  had  too  much  experience  not  to  know, 
that  there  may  be  good  cause  for  absence  often  repeated  too. 
You  may  be  too  ill,  in  a  world  where  pain  is  the  side  com- 
panion of  man.  One  of  our  older  members  was  absent  in 
1 86 1  for  which  I  could  not  at  the  time  account,  and  it  troub- 
led me.  It  was  afterwards  known  that  the  absence  was  for 
the  purpose  of  ministering  to  the  wants  of  a  dying  mother, 
and  another,  at  another  time,  was  about  the  bed  of  a  dying 
daughter. 

One  of  our  early  members,  once  sent  me  word  giving  the 


i8o  Congregational  CJinrch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

reason  of  absence,  I  have  forgotten  the  year,  but  never  the 
message ! 

But  let  me  repeat  the  rule  to-day,  laid  down  twelve  years 
ago,  that  when  God  puts  no  sorrow  in  your  path,  beware  how 
you  put  any  obstacle  to  duty  there. 

It  is  no  part  of  the  female  character  to  be  too  timid  for 
duty ;  but  there  may  be  such  a  misapprehension  of  it,  as  admits 
of  deserting  our  appropriate  place.  That  person  has  never 
yet  walked  worthily  through  this  world,  who  has  had  no  pain- 
ful duty  to  do.  I  once  desired  a  young  lady  to  read  a  piece 
upon  the  stage  at  one  of  our  fourth  of  July  celebrations.  It 
raised  a  great  conflict  in  her  mind  between  her  native  mod- 
esty and  her  sense  of  duty.  ''I  don't  see  how  I  can,''  was  her 
answer,  "but  if  you  wish  me  to,  I  will,"  smiling,  *'if  it  half  kills 
me."  And  another  of  a  great  heart  but  waning  life,  and 
whose  feet  have  brought  her  here  with  difficulty  enough  for 
years,  was  never  known  to  draw  back  from  duty.  One  of 
those  "suns  has  set,  O  rise  some  other  such."  You  know, 
dear  friends,  that  classes  have  sometimes  come  and  staid  and 
gone  away,  when  none  could  be  found  to  act  as  teacher. 
May  that  blot  never  stain  the  yet  unwritten  page  of  the  opening 
fifty  years. 

And  now  let  me  say,  that  having  been  upon  a  voyage  of 
fifty  years,  we  come  to  anchor  for  one  hour  in  port.  Owners, 
underwriters  and  friends,  we  bid  you  a  hearty  welcome  on 
board  our  little  Barque.  You  will  demand  to  know  what  we 
have  done  and  left  undone.  On  our  part,  we  ask  your  further 
orders,  and  take  a  new  departure  for  the  voyage  this  day. 

What  account,  fellow  teachers,  have  we  to  give  of  ourselves? 

What  have  we  learnt,  where'er  we've  been? 
From  all  we've  heard,  from  all  we've  seen.-* 
What  know  we  more  that's  worth  the  knowing.'' 
What  have  we  done,  that's  worth  the  doing? 
What  have  we  sought,  that  we  should  shun  ? 
What  duty  have  we  left  undone ; 
Or  into  what  new  follies  run? 


Tzvo  HiindrcdtJi  Anniversary.  i<Si 

Smooth  as  the  sea  of  the  Sabbath  School  seems  to  be, 
must  we  not  say  it  is  as  deceitful  as  any  other  sea.  And  that 
it  abounds  with  dangers,  to  which  we  must  not  be  bhnd.  Oh 
may  this  christian  mariner  (Mr.  Bullard)  continue  to  hang 
out  the  flag,  or  float  the  buoy  over  the  quicksands  and  the 
rocks,  as  he  has  so  long  been  doing. 

Is  it  not  one  of  our  great  errors,  that  we  are  too  often  satis- 
fied with  the  apparent  amount  of  Bible  knowledge,  while  the 
unbroken  pozver  of  sin  remains  in  the  heart?  We  have  heard 
of  the  blind  man,  who  every  day  walked  around  the  walls  of 
Stirling  Castle,  with  the  door-keys  in  his  hand,  polished  by 
the  friction  of  many  years.  This  turnkey  would  recite  to 
those  he  met,  any  passage  of  Scripture  whatever,  started 
by  them,  without  the  error  of  a  word.  Whpn  I  read  so  much 
of  his  story  as  this,  I  said.  Oh  that  we  were  all  blind  like 
him  !  But  ah  !  the  word  had  no  place  in  his  heart.  His  eve- 
nings were  spent  in  sin  and  shame  !  His  heart  was  as  hard 
as  the  rock  upon  which  Stirling  Castle  was  built ! 

We  hope  we  do  not  forget  to  urge  these  dear  ones  to  look 
to  God  in  prayer,  in  the  day  when  their  troubles  come,  as 
come  they  will.  When  the  poet  Cowper  was  crushed  down 
in  school  by  the  fear  of  a  large,  bad  boy,  and  whom  he  knew 
better  by  his  Shoe  Buckles  than  his  face,  he  used  to  go  to 
God  for  help  as  well  as  he  could,  saying,  I  will  not  be  afraid 
of  what  man  can  do  unto  me  !  *'No  prayer,"  said  Rev.  Mr. 
Laurie  at  the  Sabbath  School  convention  in  Newburyport, 
"No  prayer  is  inefficacious" 

We  have  endeavored  to  encourage  Christian  Benevolence! 
It  may  be  said  that  when  you  have  taught  a  child  to  give 
bread  to  the  hungry,  and  water  to  the  thirsty,  you  have  made 
him  Benevolent.  But  can  he  not  go  farther?  Cannot  the 
child  understand  that  he  should  look  farther?  Xt  costs  some- 
thing to  prove  to  the  widow  of  Scindiah  the  folly  of  Suttee ! 
And  can  the  child  not  understand  what  burning  one's  self  to 
death  means?     Does  any  one  believe  that  Sheik  Tahar  would 


1 82  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

ever  have  heard  of,  and  embraced  the  Christian  Rehgion,  had 
not  the  contribution  boxes  been  carried  round  in  NevvEngland  ? 
And  shall  not  the  Sabbath  School  throw  its  mite  into  them? 
Does  any  one  believe  that  Capt.  Augustine  Heard  of  Ipswich, 
commander  of  the  brig  Caravan  of  Salem  in  1812,  with  all 
his  benevolence,  would  ever  have  taken  Harriet  Newell,  her 
husband,  and  the  early  missionaries,  on  board  his  vessel  on 
their  missionary  voyage  to  India,  had  not  the  ladies  of  the 
Tabernacle  and  other  Societies  in  Salem  have  thrown  their 
gold  necklaces  into  the  contribution  box.  Sabbath  Schools 
must  make  it  up  now,  for  tJien,  they  had  not  begun  to  be. 

The  sum  of  $1015  saved  by  our  Sabbath  School  and 
brought  together  by  little  hands  during  the  past  fifteen  years, 
we  trust  has  wiped  away  some  tears,  but  the  best  thing  about 
it,  is,  that  the  habit  of  saving  and  giving  away  will  be  like  a 
river  rolling  onward  to  the  sea,  and  sometimes  one  which 
may  overflow  all  its  banks.  Old  habits,  especially  those  of 
the  waster  and  the  spendtJirift,  unless  uprooted,  will  prove,  as 
Horace  Mann  said,  an  Engine  of  forty  Satan  pozver,  for  over- 
throwing ^^^<3^  and  establishing  evil.  They  must  be  counter- 
acted by  antagonistic  forces  or  all  is  lost.  Old  habits  are  the 
masked  batteries  of  modern  warfare,  with  this  peculiarity, 
that  with  them  we  shall  destroy  not  the  enemy  but  ourselves. 

We  have  said,  we  think  our  little  gifts,  administered  by 
Missionary  hands,  have  wiped  away  some  tears.  It  is  in  a 
moral  point  of  view,  however,  that  they  must  be  chiefly 
viewed.  Let  the  Westminster  Review  continue  to  say  if  it 
will,  that  the  so  called  Christianity  of  this  day  is  more  troubled 
about  the  barbarians  of  Borie  Boda  Gha,  than  it  is  at  the  sight 
of  a  family  pining  in  want  at  the  next  door ;  let  it  say  so  if  it 
will,  nay  let  the  scorner  delight  in  his  scorning  everywhere, 
but  lay  us  a  telegraphic  wire  from  each  of  the  many  hearts 
that  have  been  the  recipients  of  our  tiny  gifts,  and  though 
we  could  not  read  the  language  of  either  Palestine  or  Ceylon, 
of  either  Madura  or   Koordistan,  yet  the  sounds  and  sights 


Two  HundredtlL  Anniversary.  183 

of  human  woe  can  be  understood  any  where,  and  we  shall 
not  ask  the  Westminster  Review  whether  we  may  be  satisfied. 
We  may  not  even  know  the  names  of  half  the  Micronesian 
Islands,  but  we  helped  to  sail  the  Morning  Star  among  them, 
and  in  an  important  sense,  those  islands  are  our  islands.  We 
have  sent  a  hundred  volumes  to  a  destitute  Sabbath  School 
six  miles  from  Marietta,  and  another  Library  to  Moss  Run, 
both  in  Ohio  :  — a  library  to  Bliven's  Mills  in  Northern  Illinois, 
a  set  of  Pulpit  furniture  for  the  meeting-house  at  Isle  au 
Haute,  with  a  full  supply  of  Catechisms  for  the  Sabbath 
School  at  that  lone  island,  a  $25  Library  to  Illinois,  an  equal 
one  where  the  books  were  read  on  the  Mountains  of  Persia, 
and  around  the  grave  of  Henry  Martyn,  a  $20  Library  for 
Seamen,  a  $20  Library  to  Illinois,  $17  to  Madame  Feller's 
Mission  in  Canada,  a  Library  to  Bloomington,  where  the 
Mormon  Stakes  were  up.  We  have  made  eighteen  of  our 
teachers  members  of  the  Massachusetts  Sabbath  School 
Society  by  the  payment  of  ten  dollars  each,  the  whole  amount 
having  been  expended  by  that  Society.  A  Library  has  been 
sent  to  our  Sooty  cousins  on  the  Coast  of  Africa.  A  token 
of  sympathy  of  $17  to  the  founder  of  the  Sabbath  School 
then  ill  with  a  broken  limb. 

We  have  put  $90  into  the  hands  of  the  Sabbath  School 
Union  thus  constituting  three  members  of  the  school,  mem- 
bers of  that  Society,  the  whole  amount  being  expended  by 
that  Society  in  carrying  on  their  operations. 

And  while  allusion  has  been  made  to  some  things  done  or 
attempted  by  the  school  abroad,  it  may  not  be  improper  to 
refer  to  some  of  its  operations  at  home.  It  was  in  1842, 
that  we  contemplated  procuring  a  Bible  for  the  then  new 
Pulpit.  It  was  our  custom  in  those  years  to  decide  in  advance 
upon  the  number  of  Sabbaths  we  would  contribute  to  a  given 
object,  and  not  to  exceed  that  time  in  any  case.  But  we  had 
set  the  time  too  short  for  the  Bible  and  it  was  laid  here  by 
other  hands. 


184  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

The  Church  Clock,  however,  in  the  same  year  was  the  gift 
of  the  Sabbath  School,  at  the  cost  of  $40 — as  well  as  $50 
worth  of  Organ  pipes  in  1854. 

These  two  sums  are  included  in  the  $1015  contributed 
during  the  last  fifteen  years,  but  the  avails  of  the  two  dona- 
tion visits  to  a  house  of  sickness  (where  the  fig  tree  did  not 
blossom)  amounting  in  all  to  somewhat  more  than  $100,  was 
not  so  included,  neither  was  the  gift  next  to  be  mentioned. 

Three  little  girls  once  taken  up  in  a  remote  part  of  the 
town  to  ride  a  little  way,  though  not  then  members  of  the 
Sabbath  School  yet  because  they  said  they  were  going  to  be, 
did  more  to  give  us  courage  than  their  little  hearts  could  well 
conceive.  This  was  incidental  \  but  in  what  suitable  words 
shall  I,  or  can  I,  acknowledge  the  intended  expression  of 
gushing  good  will,  with  which  the  School  surprised  me  on 
the  second  Sabbath  of  June  1857,  when  they  put  in  my  un- 
worthy hands  a  rich  collection  of  books,  accompanied  by  a 
beautiful  donation  speech  uttered  by  Susan  E.  Andrews,  but 
written  as  I  had  afterwards  reason  to  believe  by  the  lamented 
wife  of  our  kind  Pastor ! 

If  ever,  during  the  labors  of  the  last  seven  years,  I  have 
felt  a  moments  weariness  in  this  glorious  work  I  have  only 
to  look  at  those  Books.  One  of  them  alone  contains  the 
Biography  of  2300  distinguished  men  and  women  of  our 
own  country,  and  there  are  few  of  them  all  whose  example 
is  not  enough  ''to  hang  sorrow,  and  drive  away  care  !"  Then 
open  Kitto's  Cyclopedia  of  the  Bible,  of  near  2000  pages 
more,  written  by  forty  independent  minds,  all  men  of  great 
Bible  Knowledge,  and  all  Baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  And 
again,  if  for  variety,  I  wish  to  take  a  voyage  among  the  eter- 
nal snows  of  an  Arctic  Winter,  I  have  but  to  look  into 
Doctor  Kane's  great  Books  of  Travels,  all  which  books,  dear 
friends,  your  love  has  made  my  own. 

TOPICS. 

As  we  have  made  so  sparing  a  use  of  the  Question  book, 


Tzvo  Hundredth  Anniversary.  185 

having  liad  but  one  for  thirty-two  years  excepting  the  Cate- 
chism monthly,  I  feel  that  it  may  be  proper  to  refer  more 
particularly  to  the  topies  studied  than  would  be  othewisc  nec- 
essary. Without  giving  at  this  time  more  than  a  brief  spec- 
imen, it  may  be  mentioned,  that  we  endeavor,  both  in  the 
classes  and  at  the  General  Exercise  to  enforce  and  explain 
the  lesson,  both  by  precept,  and  by  anecdote.  The  Com- 
mandments have  received  a  large  share  of  attention. 

Perhaps  violations  of  the  8th  Comnandment  are  in  the 
eoimtry,  as  common  as  any,  especially  in  the  long  fruit  season. 
It  seems  a  harsh  doctrine,  but  we  feel  compelled  to  say  that 
the  seeds  of  dishonesty  are  sown  in  all  our  hearts.  We  first 
covet.  Here  we  teachers  must  begin  to  fight  ourselves,  and 
arm  the  children  to  fight  in  this  dreadful,  though  unbloody 
field.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Hildreth  once  told  us,  when  illustrating 
the  inveteraey  of  this  sin,  that  when  a  confirmed  thief  was 
executed  in  England,  he  was  by  some  mistake  taken  from 
the  gallows  before  life  was  quite  extinct,  and  removed  to  the 
dissecting  room  of  the  anatomist.  When  the  surgeons  after- 
wards entered,  they  found  the  thief  alive  and  actively  search- 
ing the  room  for  something  to  steal !  thus  showing  the  ruling 
passion  not  only  strong  in  death,  but  after  death.  No  change 
had  been  effected  in  his  character  by  what  was  supposed  to 
be  a  change  of  worlds. 

The  Sixth  Commandment  opens  the  question  relating  to 
Capital  punishment.  How  important  to  meet  the  terrible 
fallacies  of  our  day  on  this  subject !  How  much  is  yet  to  be 
done  to  get  up  a  correct  public  sentiment.  William  Goode 
the  vagrant  or  drunkard  may  be  sent  to  the  house  of  Correc- 
tion and  nobody  complains,  but  William  Goode  the  murderer 
had  thousands  of  sympathizing  friends. 

A  father  gives  his  son  a  severe  whipping  for  dulling  his  axe 
or  plane-iron,  and  nobody  cares,  but  Daniel  A.  Reardon  may 
murder  his  wife  and  twin  babes,  and  after  a  few  months  of 
imprisonment,   the  flickering,  uncertain  and  impulsive  public 

24 


1 86  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

will  run  over  the  whole  Commonwealth  with  petitions  for  his 
pardon. 

And  when  we  recollect  the  names  of  the  two  distinguished 
men,  who  have  recently  knocked  at  the  Council  Chamber 
door,  demanding  a  murderer's  pardon,  and  especially  when 
the  Chief  Magistrate  in  1862,  publicly  deplored  the  presence 
of  the  Death  penalty  on  the  Statute  Book,  is  it  not  a  wonder 
that  Edward  Green  is  not  walking  in  the  streets  of  Maiden 
to-day;  or  perhaps  doing  up  his  unfinished  business  at  the 
bank  ! 

How  glorious  an  institution  is  the  Sabbath  School  inasmuch 
as  it  affords  the  lay  element  an  opportunity  to  step  forth  for 
the  defence  of  the  institutions  of  our  holy  religion.  I  find  a 
record  of  the  fact  that  on  one  bright  clear  Sabbath  day  in 
July,  in  our  own  town,  a  wagon  load  of  hay  was  unloaded  in 
sight  of  the  children,  and  all  others  on  their  way  to  or  from 
the  House  of  God.  How  important  to  hold  up  the  fourth 
Commandment  before  the  child's  mind.  And  how  I  love  to 
contemplate  a  Statesman  or  Politician  planting  his  foot  for 
the  defence  of  the  Sabbath  !  I  have  just  now  in  mind  the 
memorable  fact  that  in  the  year  1844,  when  many  religious 
institutions  were  in  danger,  and  some  for  a  time  seemed  laid 
waste,  and  when  our  own  Legislature  was  gravely  petitioned 
to  pass  a  Law  withdrawing  all  protection  from  public  zvorship 
on  the  Sabbath,  the  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  (Mr. 
Saltonstall)  told  the  petitioners  to  take  their  miserable  paper 
away ! 

In  selecting  topics  according  to  taste  or  inclination  it  would 
be  almost  natural  to  study  the  case  of  Annanias  and  Sapphira 
struck  dead  with  a  lie  upon  their  tongue.  Of  Nadab  and 
Abihu  who  died  for  offering  strange  fire,  and  the  men  of 
Bethshemesh  who  died  on  the  spot  for  looking  into  the  ark. 
But  all  this  while  we  find  it  important  to  guard  all  minds 
against  the  idea  that  this  world  is  the  place  of  retribution, 
that  all  men  here  receive  the  due  reward  of  their  deeds. 


Tivo  HuiidrcdtlL  Anniversary.  187 

Not  every  blasphemer  is  a  Merton  Smith,  after  whose  oaths 
his  tongue  becomes  paralyzed,  and  his  mind  becomes  idiotic. 
The  book  of  God's  providence  is  to  be  studied  as  well  as 
His  Word,  and  the  Sabbath  School  teacher  should  not  fail  to 
draw  lessons  from  passing  events  and  also  learn  to  draw  con- 
clusions cautiously. 

A  bold  infidel  in  Ohio  built  a  house  in  1847,  a"<^  ^^1  '^^ 
glass  of  that  house  was  set  on  the  Sabbath  by  his  own  impious 
hand.  He  wanted,  he  said,  to  live  long  enough  to  dedicate 
it  with  a  ball,  and  so  he  did.  "And  there  was  a  sound  of 
revelry  by  night,  and  music  arose  with  its  voluptuous  swell." 
But  hardly  had  that  music  died  away,  when  the  Lord  blasted 
the  life  and  the  house  of  that  Atheist  man,  and  the  next 
morning's  sun  revealed  the  fact  that  every  pane  of  that  Sun- 
day set  glass  was  a  broken  pane,  as  well  as  the  more  terrible 
fact  that  the  owner  Jiad  daneed  his  last  dance. 

But  as  if  to  keep  us  humble  learners  in  the  Saviour's  school 
and  to  prevent  our  drawing  hasty  conclusions,  God's  Provi- 
dence also  teaches  us  that  He  sometimes  waits  and  allows  the 
potsherds  of  the  earth  to  contend  with  their  Maker. 

Soon  after  reading  of  the  scene  in  Ohio  in  the  Home  Mis- 
sionary, while  riding  in  Boston,  I  noticed  a  Bookstore  with 
the  gilded  lettering,  "Infidel  Books  at  wholesale  and  retail." 
More  triflers  go  down  to  death  from  that  place,  than  danced 
upon  the  floors  of  the  infidel's  house  on  its  first  and  last  night, 
I  apprehend,  yet  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  destroy  the  less,  and 
let  the  greater  live  ! 

Here  is  a  field  for  the  Sabbath  School  teacher  showing 
that  as  a  Great  Sovereign,  God  may  choose  his  own  time  and 
way  for  punishing  the  wicked  as  well  as  rewarding  the  good. 
In  1863,  we  spent  considerable  time  upon  the  subject  of 
the  Sabbath  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made,  and 
following  that,  a  subject  never  before  given  out  in  the  Sab- 
bath School.  Marriage,  we  considered  as  the  state  to  which 
with  few  exceptions,  the  human  family  have  glanced  an  eye 


1 88  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

forward  with  more  or  less  intensity,  from  a  comparatively 
early  age,  indeed  ever  since  the  time  when  '*Eve  stood  blush- 
ing in  her  fig-leaf  suit."  It  is  an  institution  older  than  the 
Sabbath  itself.  The  -leading  idea  however,  enforced  in  the 
school  related  to  the  example  of  the  parties  at  Cana  in  Gallilee, 
in  inviting  Jesus  and  his  disciples  to  the  marriage.  There  are 
those  in  the  world  who  are  rarely  found  among  the  people  of 
God  and  more  seldom  still,  among  his  ministers,  and  it  is 
sometimes  more  agreeable  to  them,  to  have  the  civil  Magistrate 
solemnize  tJie  marriage.  (I  have  been  called  more  than  once 
to  perform  the  ceremony).  These  are  usually  those  who 
have  no  seat  in  God's  house,  and  no  Sabbath  day  to  keep 
holy.  I  can  almost  understand  how  a  man  of  iron,  can  come 
to  prefer  that  no  minister  shall  be  present  at  either  the  bridal 
festivity  or  the  funeral  solemnity  ;  but  how  the  tender  heart 
of  a  blushing  bride  could  give  her  consent  I  cannot  under- 
stand, and  without  that  consent,  you  know,  the  door  to  mar- 
ried life  is  closed.  Can  any  one  doubt  the  propriety  of  giving 
this  topic  a  place  in  the  instructions  of  the  Sabbath  School? 
Can  any  one  doubt  that  this  is  the  place  in  which  to  plead 
that  on  the  bridal  day  of  life,  whenever  that  day  shall  come, 
both  Jesus  may  he  called  and  his  ministers  to  the  marriage} 
Upon  this  topic  the  pulpit  does  not  often  speak,  but  the  Sab- 
bath School  Teacher  may.  I  have  as  yet  seen  no  cause  to 
regret  that  for  once  the  mind  of  the  School  was  turned  dis- 
tinctly, and  not  incidentally  to  this  topic. 

Neither  have  I  ever  yet  regretted  reading  the  story  of  Bertha 
and  her  Baptism  by  Dr.  Nehemiah  Adams,  and  remarking 
upon  it  with  perfect  freedom  not  because  young  ladies,  while 
residing  in  our  community  are  particularly  liable  to  the  dan- 
gers which  Bertha  encountered,  when  contemplating  the  mar- 
riage state.  But  many  of  our  school  have  gone  abroad  and 
many  more  may  go. 

A  teacher  suggested  a  few  weeks  since  that  this  occasion 
would    afford   a  convenient    opportunity  for    examining  the 


Tivo  Hundredth  Anniversary.  189 

question  which  still  continues  to  agitate  the  pubhc  mind, 
whether  the  Sabbath  School  has  not  innocently  and  uncon- 
ciously  but  effectually  lessened  family  religious  training.  There 
is  time  for  Hardly  a  remark  upon  this  point.  The  attention 
which  I  have  been  able  to  bestow  upon  it,  however  is  grad- 
ually leading  me  to  the  conclusion  that  with  many  brilliant 
exceptions,  family  instruction  was  never  so  universally  prac- 
ticed even  in  New  England  as  to  leave  no  room  for  the  Sab- 
bath School.  That  the  live  oak  timbers  of  multiudes  of  our 
youth  were  salted  on  the  stocks  and  "seasoned  with  the  in- 
corruptible word  that  liveth  and  abideth  forever,"  the  whole 
New^  England  character  abundantly  proves.  But  that  even 
family  religion  might  not  fall  into  decay  can  hardly  be  doubted, 
since  even  in  the  household  of  holy  Eli  you  find  a  neglect- 
ed Hophni  and  Phinehas.  In  the  absence  of  direct  proof, 
something  may  be  inferred  from  other  sources.  Our  church 
records  show,  that  in  1782,  one  year  only,  by  an  interesting 
coincidence,  after  Robert  Raikes  began  his  glorious  Sabbath 
School  career  in  England,  the  Rev.  John  Cleaveland,  then 
our  Pastor,  and  his  church,  saw  the  necessity  of  a  similar 
measure  here.  The  Church  requested  the  Pastor,  and  Elders, 
"to  consult  and  report  a  plan  for  districting  the  Families  of 
the  Parish  for  Catechising  &c."  It  originated  with  Mr. 
Cleaveland  of  course.  It  was  brought  forward,  on  17  June, 
in  that  year.  The  plan  was  to  be  reported  August  28,  but 
"the  day  was  rainy,  and  but  few  present."  On  the  first  of 
September,  same  year  however,  the  plan  for  districting  the 
parish  for  Catechising  %ic.,  was  read  and  discussed  and  unan- 
imously adopted.  I  now  stop  to  ask,  why  was  all  this  nec- 
essary, if  family  religion  was  in  that  healthy  condition  that 
the  modern  objection  to  Sabbath  Schools  implies?  Why 
was  it  necessary  that  pastor  Cleaveland  should  come  down 
from  his  study  to  catechise  the  children  of  the  parish  on  a 
week  day,  walking  through  old  Chebacco  with  the  Bible  in 
one  hand,  and   Catechism  in  the  other,  leaving  him  time  to 


IQO  Congregational  CJinrch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

write  his  sermons  upon  two  little  leaves  only,  of  the  size  of  a 
man's  hand?  Why  I  say  was  all  this  necessary,  if  the  FAMILY 
was  doing  all  it  should  have  done,  and  this  so  soon  after  that 
Great  Revival  which  brought  one  hundred  into  the  church 
within  six  months. 

That  Deacons  Seth  Story,  Senior  and  Junior,  and  Deacon 
Zachery  Story,  brother  of  the  latter,  used  to  catechise  their 
children,  there  can  be  no  doubt  for  their  deseendants  like  their 
sepulchres  are  with  us  unto  this  day.  But  that  "Ginny  John," 
catechised  his,  the  very  nick-name  that  has  come  down  to  us, 
seems  to  make  doubtful  unless  the  question  was,  why  they 
drank  so  much  of  the  liquor  and  left  so  little  for  him.     And 

whether  even  Tinker  I should  have  been  much  given  to  it 

among  his,  may  be  questionable,  though  we  are  pleasantly 
told,  he  used  to  see  dreams  and  Jiear  visions. 

The  importance  of  family  training  was  felt  and  practised 
in  very  unequal  degrees  by  different  families,  some  over-doing 
as  Cecil  says  was  a  common  puritanic  fault,  and  others 
under-doing,  probably  still  more  common.  May  it  not 
have  been  a  part  of  the  true  mission  of  the  Sabbath  School 
to  equalize  that  family  training.  "William,"  said  a  father  in 
this  neighborhood,  and  who  was  led  about  the  time  the  Sab- 
bath School  was  started,  to  think  he  might  have  been  a  little 
remiss  in  duty,  "William,  who  made  all  things?"  If  William 
had  ever  been  told,  he  just  then  forgot,  and  instead  of  saying 

God,  named  the  best  man  he  knew  of  one  of  our 

Deacons  !  ! 

A  mother,  on  the  other  hand,  determined  that  the  sin  of 
remissness,  should  not  be  laid  to  her  charge,  and  as  usual 
began  on  Sabbath  evening,  "Mary,  who  was  the  first  man?" 
Mary,  who  was  perfectly  tired  of  her  repeated  embassies  to 
the  garden  of  Eden,  replied  once  for  all  by  saying,  ''Adam 
and  Eve!'  Here  there  are  examples  of  excessive  family 
training  in  one  house,  and  the  utter  destitution  of  it  in  another, 
both  within  a  very  short  distance,  and  in  one  case  the  father, 


Tzvo  II u  n  drcdth  A ;/ ;/  ivcrsa  ry.  191 

t 
grand-father,  and  great  grand-father  of  Httle  WilHam,  were 

all  Mr.  Cleaveland's  constant  hearers,  and  two  of  them  mem- 
bers of  his  church. 

I  am  driven,  therefore,  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  Sabbath 
School  was  a  NECESSITY,  both  in  England  and  America.  In 
England,  to  stay  the  open  desecration  of  the  Sabbath,  and 
in  our  country  to  hold  up  fainting  parental  hands  where  they 
were  already  up,  and  to  help  raise  them  where  they  were 
not.  (Having  referred  to  the  founding  of  Sabbath  Schools  in 
England,  I  deem  it  but  an  act  of  justice  to  say  that  Rev.  Mr. 
Stock  acted  with  Raikes  conjointly  in  the  Sabbath  School 
enterprise.) 

The  world  seems  full  of  facts,  going  to  show  the  importance 
of  bending  the  twig  just  as  the  tree  oiigJit  to  be  inclined.  O 
what  an  opportunity  Sabbath  School  teachers  have  to  take 
np  and  finish  the  parents  nnfinisJied  or  neglected  work.  It 
would  be  a  monster  of  a  mother  who  should  fail  to  teach  her 
lisping  babe  to  say,  "Now  I  lay  me  down  to  sleep,"  &c.,  and 
to  the  credit  of  all  who  intrust  their  children  here,  I  may 
say,  that  of  about  two  hundred  present  some  years  ago,  there 
were  not  more  than  three,  and  I  think  but  two,  who  did  not 
know  those  four  lines.  But  I  equally  well  remember  that 
not  one  of  all  that  two  hundred,  could  tell  when  they  learned 
to  say  them.  This  beautiful  prayer  had  been  breathed  into 
their  ears  by  maternal  lips,  during  the  unconscious  days  of 
infancy.     The  great  parental  error  was  to  stop  too  soon. 

Whatever  we  may  think  of  it,  the  minds  of  children  are 
often  made  up  even  on  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  before  we 
know  it.  When  speaking  of  the  Catechism,  the  infidel  Parker 
said  he  trod  the  abominable  thing  under  foot  before  he  had 
seen  his  seventh  birth  day,  and  long  before  that  time  says 
this  redoubtable,  though  baby  theologian,  ''the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity,  and  that  of  a  wrathful  God,  had  gone  the  same 
road.  Since  then,"  says  he,  "I  have  had  no  desire  for  the  nar- 
row heaven,  nor  fears  of  the  roomy  hell  of  which  men  talk." 


192  Congregational  ChnrcJi  and  Parish y  Essex. 

"^ 
Not  every  mind,  I  admit,   is  capable  of  a  course  so  awful ; 

but  it  is  always  dangerous  to  neglect  a  child,  while  it  is  emi- 
nently hopeful  to  lead  him  in  the  way  in  which  he  should  go. 

But  I  must  pass  over  much  in  order  to  refer  to  two  or  three 
years  more,  as  briefly  however  as  their  importance  will  admit. 

1849.  The  events,  distinguishing  this  year,  and  which 
made  it  somewhat  memorable,  were  that  of  committing  and 
reciting  the  Assembly's  Catechism  at  four  ox  fezvcr  lessons 
without  the  variation  of  a  word  or  the  least  help  from  the 
teacher,  together  with  the  outpouring  of  God's  Spirit,  that 
so  immediately  and  remarkably  followed.  Let  it  however 
here  be  distinctly  said,  and  once  for  all,  that  it  is  to  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel  by  the  ministers  of  Christ,  that  we  must  ever 
look  as  God' s  great  instrnmentality  for  the  conversion  of  souls; 
and  any  reliance  on  Sabbath  School  agency,  or  any  other  agency 
to  the  exclusion  of  preaching,  God  ivill  never  ozun,  but  He  will 
in  some  way  frown  upon  it,  as  lie  thundered  upon  the  Egyptians 
with  a  very  great  thunder.  But  He  condescends  to  allow 
other  means,  as  family  instruction,  and  we  may  add,  the  Sab- 
bath School.  We  began  to  entertain  a  strong  desire  to  have 
the  school  thoroughly  acquainted  with  that  glorious  formula 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  the  Catechism,  and  on  appeal- 
ing to  the  church  for  pecuniary  aid,  the  church  responded 
and  authorised  us  to  draw  upon  their  treasury  for  such  sums 
as  should  be  needful  for  putting  an  English  clasp  Bible  into 
the  hands  of  all  who  should  be  entitled  to  it.  On  the  third 
Sabbath  in  September  a  specimen  Bible  was  held  up  before 
the  School,  and  the  conditions  of  receiving  it  were  stated. 
Some  said  the  church  never  need  fear  that  they  should  have 
many  Bibles  to  pay  for  on  such  conditions ;  but  the  soul  of 
the  school  was  fired  ;  and  on  the  second  Sabbath  in  October, 
it  was  ascertained  that  sixty-five  had  commenced  repeating 
the  Catechism  for  the  grand  reward  of  the  grandest  effort 
ever  put  forth  in  the  town.  The  conditions  ivere  indeed  strin- 
gent.     It  was  accomplished  with  many  tears  on  the  part  of 


Two  HundredtJi  Annivei'sary.  193 

the  learners.  It  also  cost  the  teachers  tears,  to  say,  at  the 
end  of  twenty-seven  answers,  "there  was  an  error  or  two, 
but  I  must  not  tell  you  where.  Go  over  the  whole  again." 
But  with  some  exceptions,  all  who  began,  succeeded.  The 
minister  and  the  church  were  gratified.  Parents  smiled. 
The  children  smiled.  But  our  crowning  joy  was,  we  thought 
the  Lord  from  heaven  smiled. 

On  the  second  Sabbath  in  December,  the  record  of  the 
Sabbath  School  states  that  twenty  had  finished  the  Catechism 
and  were  entitled  to  the  Bible.  That  Bible,  with  the  receiv- 
er's name  engraved  upon  the  clasp,  was  delivered  publicly, 
with  much  thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God,  and  many  prayers 
for  His  blessing  to  follow.  Those  thanksgivings,  we  think, 
were  accepted,  and  those  prayers  heard,  and  that  blessing 
followed.  On  the  first  Sabbath  in  December,  a  memorandum 
on  our  records  says,  much  interest  in  religion  has  appeared 
in  the  Sabbath  School  within  a  week.  Four  in  one  class,  are 
entertaining  hope.  Between  twenty  and  thirty  met  last  even- 
ing in  two  different  places  for  prayers,  seeking  the  Lord. 
Indeed,  the  appearance  of  the  school  was  so  changed,  so 
solemn,  that  we  could  not  help  exclaiming,  "this  is  the  Lord, 
we  have  waited  for  him,  we  will  be  glad  and  rejoice  in  his 
salvation."  One  extract  more  from  the  same  memorandum 
says,  "It  was  mentioned  two  or  three  Sabbaths  ago,  that  a 
member  of  the  school  had  hopefully  passed  from  death  unto 
life.  Last  Sabbath  another,  whose  sins  were  many,  hopes  they 
are  now  forgiven,  and  next  day  another  tongue  broke  out  in 
unknown  strains  and  sung  surprising  grace.  Since  that  time 
many  hearts  have  yielded  the  controversy  with  God.  Some 
families  have  kept  such  a  thanksgiving  as  they  had  never  kept 
before.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  seemed  to  suffer  violence, 
and  the  violent  seemed  to  take  it  by  force. 

On  the  third  Sabbath  in  December,  being  but  two  and  a 
half  months  from  the  time  when  the  offer  was  made,  forty- 
two  Bibles  had  been  delivered.  The  whole  number  to  the 
present  time  is  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight. 


194  Congregational  CJiurch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

We  have  sometimes  called  1849,  our  happy  year.  All, 
certainly,  were  not  so,  few,  indeed,  were  like  it.  The  year 
1855  contrasted  strongly.  Our  numbers  diminished  that  year, 
while  neighboring  schools  increased.  The  attractions  about 
town  were  too  much  for  the  Sabbath  School.  The  river  and 
the  roads  seemed  scarred  with  sin.  One  boy,  who  left  us, 
said  he  had  got  all  the  good  there  was  to  be  had,  he  thought. 
Another  said  he  had  as  lief  go  to  hell  as  to  the  Sabbath  School, 
and  a  third  when  asked  by  his  teacher  if  he  thought  he  could 
endure  the  judgment  of  the  great  day,  boldly  answered,  yes  ! 
We  know  Dr.  L.  Beecher's  rule,  that  such  boys  should  never 
be  allowed  to  leave,  but  should  be  publicly  expelled.  But  we 
were  afraid.  Our  tears  became  our  sorrowful  meat.  The 
cloud  at  length  however  gradually  lifted.  These  distinguished 
Boston  friends  had  more  to  do  with  lifting  that  cloud  than 
they  have  ever  yet  known  of.  Through  their  agency,  Massa- 
chusetts and  New  York  shook  hands  together  that  year  in  the 
Crystal  Palace,  and  the  recollection  of  what  we  there  heard 
and  saw,  chased  all  our  tears  and  our  fears  away  together. 

INFANT    DEPARTMENT. 

Our  infant  department  was  formed  and  organized  as  a 
branch  of  the  main  school,  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  May 
1859.  It  consisted  at  that  time  of  thirty-two  members,  Mrs. 
Caleb  Cogswell,  teacher,  assisted  for  a  time  by  Miss  Mary  S. 
Spofford.  Mrs.  Cogswell  continued  to  conduct  the  depart- 
ment with  excellent  success  until  she  left  for  a  year's  residence 
in  Minnesota. 

It  was  determined  that  this  department  should  begin  at  the 
beginning;  that  the  first  question  should  be,  '*Who  was  the 
first  man;  and  the  second,  who  was  the  first  zvonianf  and  to 
follow  in  the  train  of  the  book,  which  gives  us  these  facts. 
Because,  that  same  first  man,  by  his  Fall,  lost  communion  with 
God,  and  came  under  his  wrath  and  curse  ;  and  as  by  that  one 
man,  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin,  the  children 
could  begin  to  understand  why  so  many    little  tombstones 


Tivo  HinidrcdtJi  Anniversary.  195 

were  decking-  the  burial  ground  in  the  spring  of  that  year ; 
why  some  thirty  weeping  fathers  had  just  then  built  their 
children's  tombs.  It  was  all  because  of  the  fall  of  man,  that 
he  and  all  his  long  posterity  must  die. 

The  late  lamented  Mrs.  Bacon  commenced  teaching  in  the 
Infant  Department,  on  the  17th  of  June  i860,  Miss  M.  S. 
Spofford  having  found  her  health  insufficient.  The  number 
had  now  increased  to  forty-eight.  Mrs.  Bacon  conducted  the 
department  as  her  predecessor  had  done,  with  great  success. 
Her  manner  of  teaching,  said  a  writer  in  the  religious  Papers, 
''was,  like  herself  affectionate  and  persuasive  in  the  highest 
degree."  Her  labors  ended  only  with  her  life.  Blessed  are 
the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord,  that  they  may  rest  from  their 
labors,  and  their  works  do  follow  them.  She  died  on  the 
31st  of  January,  1863. 

From  this  time,  31st  of  January,  1863  Miss  Maria  W. 
Crowell  heard  the  class  as  frequently  as  she  was  able,  until 
the  first  Sabbath  in  July,  when  her  waning  health  forbade 
her  meeting  with  them  any  longer.  She  died  on  the  four- 
teenth of  November,  having  often  spoken  of  the  children 
with  the  deepest  affection  and  many  prayers.  After  the 
teacher's  chair  was  vacated  by  Miss  Crowell,  it  became  occu- 
pied by  the  present  incumbent,  and  now  numbers  ninety-one 
members,  a  great  advance  upon  anything  before. 

It  is,  I  presume,  within  our  recollection  that  extensive 
blessings  attended  the  preaching  of  the  word  and  other  means 
of  grace  in  1858.  Our  teachers  felt  it  then,  as  in  former 
years,  only  more  so,  to  be  their  sweet  and  solemn  duty  to 
point  to  heaven  and  lead  the  way ;  to  talk  much  of  Christ 
and  Him  crucified ;  to  pour  forth  their  thoughts  of  that  won- 
drous One ;  His  life ;  His  death ;  His  everlasting  presence, 
and  His  power  to  save. 

With  curiously  critical  teaching  we  felt  that  we  had  but 
little  to  do.  The  Boston  Review  tells  us  that  the  word  Uzzen 
Sherah  occurs  but  once  in  the  Bible,  but  that  important  mat- 


196  Congregational  ChurcJi  and  Parish,   Essex. 

ters  were  connected  with  it.  But  we  thouglit  the  salvation  of 
the  soul  should  transcend  all  other  considerations.  This  was 
in  that  remarkable  year,  when  the  most  extensive  revivals  of 
religion,  ever  known  in  our  country  or  in  Europe,  were  in 
progress ;  and  it  was  now  that  the  third  outpouring  of  God's 
Spirit  was  experienced  in  our  Sabbath  School.  Thirty-one, 
in  the  judgment  of  charity,  passed  from  death  unto  life,  and 
on  the  first  Sabbath  in  July  following,  twenty-seven  of  them 
publicly  professed  their  faith  in  Christ.  Some  others  have 
followed  since.  We  could  but  say  as  on  a  similar  occasion 
in  1849  ;  This  too  is  the  Lord  :  we  have  again  waited  for  Him, 
and  He  has  again  come  to  bless  us.  O,  that  we  could  add, 
every  one  of  ns,  in  turning  us  away  from  our  iniquities. 

In  bringing  these  somewhat  disconnected  thoughts  to  a 
close,  I  cannot  allow  myself  to  forget  the  obligations  that  our 
church  and  the  rising  generation  are  under:  ist,  to  the  late 
Robert  Crowell  D.D.  who  founded  this  Sabbath  School,  and 
held  it  up  so  long  by  its  infant  hand.  2d,  To  our  present 
pastor  whose  wakeful  eye  is  upon  the  school  with  the  same 
anxious  assiduity,  and  whose  presence  is  always  sunshine  in 
the  school.  3d,  To  its  first  Superintendent  for  twelve  to 
fifteen  years,  and  who  not  long  after  collected  \X\q  first  of  onr 
eis:ht  adult  classes;  who  has  never  failed  of  meetincf  that  class 
on  any  but  sick  days,  and  those  but  few  indeed,  and  who  now 
in  vigorous  age,  still  stands  up  before  some  twenty  adult 
members  every  Sabbath  day  "for  to  read"  and  expound  ;  and 
4th,  to  the  long  line  of  teachers  for  fifty  years,  both  the  living 
and  the  dead. 

When  I  have  been  sometimes  looking  at  the  toiun  schools, 
I  have  said  to  myself,  how  much  good  a  teacher  does  that 
he  is  never  paid  for  !  for  the  interest  taken  !  for  the  plans 
laid  in  the  wakeful  hours  of  night,  all  centering  in  the  school 
room  !  midnight  reviews  of  yesterday's  work,  or  to-morrow's 
designs  !  But  how  insignificant  all  this  becomes,  when  laid 
alongside  of  the  debt  which    the    rising    generation  owe  to 


Two  HundrcdtJL  Anniversary.  197 

faithful  teachers  in  the  Sabbath  Schools.  I  am  free  to  own, 
that  I  have  often  received  more  pain  than  pleasure,  at  some 
State,  or  other  large  Convention,  when  the  speakers  have 
been  laying  heavy  burdens  upon  teachers'  shoulders,  as  I 
thought  already  deeply  loaded,  almost  requiring  them,  if  I 
may  change  the  figure,  not  merely  to  "roll  away  the  stone," 
but  to  bring  the  sleeping  Lazarus  forth  !  If  by  the  use  of 
that  bad  word  unpaid,  or  unrequited  labor  in  the  Sabbath 
School,  I  have  raised  the  thought  in  any  mind  that  teachers 
should  be  paid,  let  me  say,  the  Sabbath  School  system  will 
no  more  bear  the  touch  of  selfishness  ox  pay,  than,  as-  Mary 
Lyon  said,  the  Mt.  Holyoke  Female  Seminary  would,  where 
it  is  known  that  every  Trustee  or  committee  man  who  took  pay 
for  serviee  had  but  one  short  step  from  the  quarter-deck  over 
the  Ship's  side.  Sabbath  School  labor  will  not  bear  pay,  I 
refer  of  course  to  labor  in  the  school  room. 

If  the  American  Churches  owe  that  debt  of  gratitude  to 
the  300,000  Sabbath  School  teachers  which  all  great  and 
good  men  say  they  do,  then  dear  fellow  teachers  of  this  our 
Essex  branch,  a  proportionate  share  is  due  to  you.  Your 
instructions  have  fallen  upon  seven  hundred  or  a  thousand 
minds.  Your  hands,  I  speak  collectively  of  all  the  past  as 
well  as  the  present  laborers  in  the  field,  have  done  what  they 
could  to  fill  these  minds  with  God's  word.  And  as  the  skill 
of  the  operator  in  our  city  churches,  by  one  stroke  of  his  art, 
lights  a  hundred  lamps  in  an  instant,  so,  says  Dr.  Nehemiah 
Adams,  regeneration  will  convert  the  knowledge  of  the  Sab- 
bath School  child,  at  once  into  a  source  of  pleasure  unspeak- 
able. 

In  allusion  then  to  the  Marriage  at  Cana,  I  would  use  the 
words  of  the  Great  Guest  and  say,  "Fill  ye  then  the  water 
pots  with  water,  ;//  to  the  brim''  Christ  is  near  by,  and  can 
change  that  water  all  into  wine  in  a  moment. 

Travellers  tell  us,  that  beautiful  rivers,  golden  rivers,  some- 
times disappear  under  a  burning  sky,  and  seem  lost  in  the 


198  Congregational  CJmrcJi  and  ParisJi,  Essex. 

sands,  but  you  are  sure  to  find  them  again  bursting  out  in  a 
more  congenial  clime,  and  thence  rolling  onward  to  the  sea. 
So  mental  philosophers  tell  us,  *'the  mind  never  forgets.  The 
delicate  tracery  of  early  impressions  may  be  lost  a  while 
under  the  sterner  stamps  of  maturer  years,  but  it  is  all  there." 
Therefore,  disheartened  Teachers,  Superintendents  once 
of  us,  but  now  in  more  extensive  fields  of  labor,  dear  Pastor 
of  our  own  church.  Life  long  laborers  present,  whose  Sabbath 
School  is  the  Commonwealth,  Ministers,  and  men  of  God  who 
gladden  us  with  your  presence  to-day,  "THEREFORE,  I  say, 
let  us  not  be  weary  in  well  doing,  for  in  due  season  ye  shall 
reap  if  ye  faint  not." 


A, 

May  28,  1679.  In  ans.  to  the  petition  of  the  inhabitants  of  Chebacho, 
Wm.  Cogswell,  Sen.,  Robt.  Crosse,  Sen.,  William  Storj,  &c.,  upon  a  full 
hearing  of  the  Chebacho  case,  the  Court  judge,  the  petitioners  of  Chebacho 
have  offended  the  council,  in  going  expresly  contrary  to  their  aduise,  in 
errecting  a  meeting  house ;  which  they  order  them  imediately  to  acknowl- 
edge, &  humble  themselues  for;  as  also,  wherein  thev  have  justly  offended 
the  officers  &  church  of  Ipsuich,  wee  order  them  seriously  to  apply  them- 
selues to  the  church  for  reconciliation;  which  being  doun,  doe  grant  them 
liberty  to  procure  a  minister,  to  be  helpfull  to  them  in  the  worke  of  the  min- 
istry, provided  he  be  pious,  able,  &  orthodox,  as  the  law  directs,  with  the 
aduise  of  the  following  comittee,  i.e.,  Joseph  Dudley,  Esq.,  Major  Richard 
Waldron,  Mr.  Anthony  Stoddard.  Mr.  Henry  Bartholmew,  &  Leift.  Wm. 
Johnson,  who  are  appointed  to  be  a  comittee  for  that  affaire,  &  are  desired 
to  meete  on  the  place  at  the  peticoners  charge  &  request,  &  to  heare  theire 
allegations,  &  the  allegations  of  some  deputed  by  the  toune  of  Ipsuich, 
referring  to  the  accomodations  of  others  of  their  inhabitants,  &  fynally  to 
determine  the  place  of  errecting  a  meeting  house  that  may  be  most  acomo- 
dable  for  them  ;  &  all  cases  depending  in  Courts  referring  to  this  matter 
doe  cease,  &  the  Chebacho  men  are  to  pay  tenn  pounds  for  this  Courts 
costs.  As  an  addition  or  explanation  of  the  order  to  Chebacho  men,  it  is 
hereby  ordered,  that  such  of  them  as  are  delinquents,  in  errecting  a  meeting 
house  there  contrary  to  the  aduise  &  prohibition  of  the  council,  &  are 
sumoned  to  Salem  Court,  to  ans.  their  say'd  contempt,  doe  there  make 
their  acknowledgments  in  theise  words,  viz.,  that  they  are  convinced  that 
they  have  offended  in  so  doing;  for  which  they  are  sorry,  &  praj^  it  may  be 
forgiven  them,  &  so  to  be  dismissed  with  out  any  further  trouble,  charge, 
or  attendance  in  that  respect,  or  further  attendance  on  the  council  for 
that  their  offence. 

The  Report  of  the  Committee  thus  appointed,  is  as  follows  : 

Ipswich,  Jebacco,  July  23,  1679. 

The  persons  vnder  written  being  a  comittee  of  the  honnorble  General 
Court,  as  by  their  order,  dated  May  28,  1679,  for  the  setlement  of  the  buis- 
nes  of  Jebacco,  touching  the  place  of  publick  worship  amoungst  them,  & 
the  setlement  of  a  minister  in  that  part  of  the  toune  for  their  acomodation 


200  Congregational  Chnrxh  and  Parish,  Essex. 

in  the  worship  of  God  &L  proppogation  of  religion  amongst  them,  as  in 
say'd  order  is  particcularlj  recited, — 

The  saj'd  persons  mette  vpon  the  place,  die  supradicto,  &  there  found 
present  the  peticoners  &  other  inhabitants  of  say'd  Jebacco,  as  also  others 
that  were  deputed  by  the  toune  of  Ipsuich  to  ofter  something  refferring  to 
the  acomodation  of  others  of  their  inhabitants,  &  vpon  a  full  hearing  & 
serious  consideration  of  what  was  offered  &  pleaded  bj  both  parties,  doe 
find  the  p'sons,  peticon's  &  others,  ye  inhabitants  there,  haue  attended  the 
order  of  the  honnorable  Gennerall  Court,  in  humbly  acknowledging  their 
fault,  in  going  contrary  to  the  advice  of  the  honnorable  council,  &  in 
giving  sattisfaction  to  the  offended  church  of  Ipsuich,  which,  was  allowed 
&  attested  by  some  of  the  reuerend  elders,  &  other  persons  of  credit  mem- 
bers of  the  say'd  church,  &  therefor  doe  conclude, — 

(ist.)  Refferring  to  the  place  of  the  meeting  house,  that  though  a  remoove 
of  the  house  from  the  place  at  present  designed  by  saidjebacho  inhabitants, 
farther  towards  the  toune  of  Ipsuich,  might  acomodate  some  more  of  the 
inhabitants,  &  farmers  of  say'd  toune,  yet,  perceiving  that  the  number 
offering  themselues  are  competent  for  such  a  setlement,  «&  those  at  the  head 
&  on  the  other  side  of  say'd  river  of  Jebacho  will  be  much  disadvantaged 
thereby,  who  were  the  first  agreived  &  petitioning  partye,  that  therefore 
the  place  where  the  house  now  standeth  be  &  is  heereby  allowed  by  us,  & 
that  they  haue  liberty  to  proceede  to  the  finishing  of  the  say'd  meeting 
house  for  their  comfort  &  setlement. 

(2dly.)  Refferring  to  the  setlement  of  a  pious,  able,  &  orthodoxe  minis- 
ter amongst  them  for  the  due  mannagement  of  the  worship  of  God,  wee 
find  that  the  persons,  inhabitants  of  Jebacho,  who  are  like  to  be  a  joint  society 
in  this  setlement,  should  seriously  consider  with  themselues,  with  invoca- 
tion of  God's  name,  of  some  meete  person,  able,  learned  &  pious,  that  may 
be  fitt  to  mannage  the  publick  worshipp  of  God  amongst  them,  some  time 
betweene  this  &  Tuesday,  the  day  before  the  session  of  the  Gennerall  Court, 
in  October  next,  vnto  which  time  the  comittee  doe  adjorne  themselues 
there,  to  meet  in  Boston,  there  to  give  their  approbation  vnto  such  person 
for  the  minister  to  setle  amongst  them,  earnestly  entreating  &  advising 
them  in  the  meanetime  to  lay  aside  all  animosity,  &  to  take  such  advice  as 
may  be  beneficiall  for  their  future  setlement  &  good  accord. 

May  22th,  1680,  The  comittee  aboue  written  mett  accordingly,  &  the 
inhabitants  of  said  Chebacho  presented  Mr.  John  Wise  as  a  person  vpon 
whom  they  have  vnanimously  agreed  vpon  for  their  minister,  who  is  accep- 
table to  us. 

B. 

LIST  OF  BOOKS  OWNED  BY  THEOPHILUS  PICKERING. 
List  of  some  of  the  books  owned  by  the  Reverend  Theophilus  Pickering 
still    preserved  and  bearing   his  name    and    the    date    within ;     furnished 
by  Miss  Mary  O.  Pickering  of  Salem,  who  also  communicated  the  facts 


Two  HundredtJi  Anniversary.  201 

of  Mr.  Pickering's  familj  and  of  his   life  prior  to  his  settlement  in   Che- 
bacco,  which  are  mentioned  in  the  Discourse. 

'T.  P.  1719.'     Compendium  Theologiae    Christianae,  Authore  Johanne 

WoUebio  ss.  Th.  D.  &  in  Acad.  Basil  Profess.  Ord.  Am- 

stelodami  do  looxxxxii. 
'T.  P.  1716.'     Book  of  Common  Prayer  i2mo.  London,  1713. 
'T.  P.  1716.'     Physico-Theology   or   Demonstration  of  the    Being   and 

Attributes  of  God    from    his    Works  of  Creation  by  W. 

Derham,  Rector  of  Upminster  in  Essex  and  F.  R.  S.  Lon- 
don, 1716. 
'T.  P.  1718.'     Astro-Theology,    or  a  Demonstration  of  the   Being  and 

Attributes  of  God,  from  a  survey  of  the  Heavens,  by  W. 

Derham  &c.,  London  17 15. 
'T.  P.  1718.'     The  Whole  Duty  of  Man  cS^c.,— with  Private  Devotions — , 

London  1710. 
'T.  P.  1719.'     Brerewood's  Survey  of  the  Languages  in  the  World,  and 

of  the  various  sorts  of  religion  therein — i2mo.  1611. 
'T.  P.  1721-2.'  Psalterium  Americanum,  by  Cotton  Mather.  Boston,  1718. 
'T.  P.  1724.'     The  Jesuits  Morals — by  a  Doctor  of  the  Colledge  of  Sorbon 

in  Paris  —  translated    from    the    French:  folio,  London; 

1670. 
'T.  P.  1724.'     Hooker's  Ecclesiastical  Polity  —  folio:  London,  1611. 
'T.  P.  1724.'     Howel's     History  —  An    Institution    of  General    History, 

from  the  beginning  of  the  World  to  the  Monarchy  of  Con- 

stantine  the  Great.     By  William  Howel,  M.  A.   Fellow  of 

Magdalen    College  in  Cambridge:  folio,  London,  1661. 
'T.  P.  1743.'     Fuller's  Holy  and  Prophane  States:    folio,  1648. 

C. 

CHURCH  ARTICLES  OF  FAITH. 

The  Church  Articles  of  Faith  and  Discipline  of  the  newly-gathered 
Congregational  Church  of  Christ  at  Chebacco  in  Ipswich. 

Whereas  we  the  subscribers  have  seen  it  our  Duty  to  congregate  &  Em- 
body ourselves  into  a  Church  State ;  &  as  we  are  of  opinion  :  That  a  Lax 
admition  into  the  Ministry,  &  a  Lax  admition  into  the  Churches  &  want 
of  Discipline  are  the  Bane  of  Churches  — 

We  the  subscribers,  &  each  of  us  for  himself,  Do  therefore  oblige  our- 
selves, &  each  of  ourselves  Respectively,  by  these  Presents,  to  stand,  to 
abide  by,  &  be  governed  according  unto,  the  following  Articles  of  Faith 
and  Church  government,  viz  : 

I  St.  That  we  will  have  such  officers  as  Christ  Jesus  has  appointed  & 
ordained  in  his  holy  word,  viz  :  a  Pastor  or  Pastors,  Ruling  Elders  &  Dea- 
cons :  see  i.  Cor.  12,  28 ;    i.  Tim.  3,  2-10 ;   i.  5,  17. 

2d.  That  no  Person  shall  be  admitted  to  either  of  said  offices.  Unless 
they  have  scripture  qualifications  Evidently  appearing  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  Church.  Titus  i,  5-9;   i.  Tim.  3,  8-13. 

26 


202  Congregational  CJmrch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

3d.  That  the  Church  shall  have  the  Sole  power  of  electing  &  appoint- 
ing all  the  officers  of  the  Church.  Acts.  6,  3. 

4th.  That  the  officers  so  elected  shall  be  ordained  to  their  several  offi- 
ces by  Imposition  of  Hands.  Acts.  6,  6;   14,  23. 

5th.  That  no  Person  shall  be  admitted  as  member  of  our  Church,  but 
such  as  shall  give  a  particular  account  of  a  saving  work  of  the  spirit  of 
God  upon  his  or  her  soul,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Church;  &  upon  sat- 
isfaction given  to  them,  then  the  Person  or  Persons  desiring  to  join  with 
us  shall  be  propounded,  fourteen  days  at  least  before  admition.  And  if 
no  Reasonable  matter  of  objection  be  made,  then  such  persons  may  be 
admitted,  as  members  of  the  Church  &  not  otherwise.  11.  Chron.  23,  19; 
I.  Cor.  II,  27,  28 ;   I.  John  1,3;    11.  Cor.  13,5. 

6th.  That  upon  admition  of  any  member  or  members  into  the  Church, 
the  covenant  with  these  Articles  shall  be  read  to  the  Person  or  Persons  to 
be  admitted,  in  the  Presence  of  the  Church,  &  upon  their  approving  & 
consenting  thereunto,  they  shall  then  sign  the  same  immediately.  Neh.  9, 
3;   10,  28,  29;  Is.  46,  1-5. 

7th.  That  we  will  not  admit  of  any  Person  to  minister  to  us  in  holy 
things,  who  shall  refuse  to  submit  to  an  Examination  of  the  state  of  his 
soul  by  such  a  number  of  the  Brethren  as  the  Church  from  time  to  time 
shall  think  fit  to  appoint;  &  shall  give  to  them  a  satisfactory  account  of  a 
work  of  grace  wro't  upon  his  soul;  who  shall  also  sign  these  articles, 
before  he  shall  be  ordained  to  the  Pastoral  care  of  this  Church,  i.  Pet.  3, 
15 ;   Rev.  2,2;   I.  John  4,  i  ;  Neh.  9,  38. 

8th.  That  no  adult  Person  shall  be  admitted  to  Baptism  without  giving 
to  the  Church  sufficient  evidence  of  a  work  of  grace  wro't  on  his  or 
her  soul,  &  that  the  infants  of  none  but  such,  the  Parents  of  whom,  or 
one  at  least,  shall  be  in  full  communion  with  the  Church,  shall  be  admitted 
to  Baptism.  Mark  16,  16;  Acts  2,  38,  39, .45;  8,  37;  10,  47,  48;  i.  Cor.  7, 
14. 

9th.  That  if  any  Member  or  Members  shall  walk  inconsistently  with 
the  gospel,  &  their  profession  of  Christ,  they  shall  submit  to  such  disci- 
pline as  is  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God;  &  upon  their  continuing  impen- 
itent, &  refusing  to  submit  to  such  wholesome  discipline  as  God's  holy 
word  enjoins,  they  shall  be  publickly  excommunicated  from  our  holy  com- 
munion, until  such  time  as  they  shall  give  credible  manifestation  of  their 
repentance,   i.  Cor.  5,  11;  Titus  3,  10;  Matt.  18,  15-17. 

loth.  That  if  any  member  or  members  of  any  other  Church  whatsoever 
(saving  such  churches  as  hold  communion  with  us)  not  excepting  against 
any  denominations  of  Christians  shall  at  any  time  desire  to  sit  down  with 
us  at  the  Lord's  table,  they  shall  not  be  admitted  unless  they  have  been 
with  the  Pastor  and  one  or  more  of  the  Elders,  and  given  them  sufficient 
satisfaction  about  a  work  of  grace  being  wrought  on  his  or  her  soul.  i. 
Peter  3,  15;   i.  Cor.  11,  27,  28. 

nth.  That  the  Pastor  or  Pastors  with  the  assistance  of  the  Ruling 
Elders    shall  be,  and  hereby  are  obliged  to  visit  every  respective  Person 


Tzvo  HundrcdtJi  Anniversary .  203 

belonging-  to  the  Church  at  least  twice  in  a  year,  and  examine  them  in  re- 
spect to  their  state,  &  growth  in  grace,  i.  Pet.  5,  10;  Heb.  13,  17. 

I2th.  That  whenever  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  shall  be  admin- 
istered, after  paying  for  the  necessary  piovision  «&  furniture  of  the  same, 
the  remaining  part  of  the  collection  that  shall  then  be  made  shall  be  wholly 
»&  solelj'  applied  for  the  relief  of  the  church,  &  for  no  other  use  whatsoever. 
Rom.  12,  12;   I  Tim.  6,  iS,  19. 

13th.  That  neither  Pastor  nor  Elders  shall  invite  any  Person  to  preach, 
until  they  are  satisfyed  that  he  has  a  work  of  grace  wro't  on  his  soul. 
I  John  4,  3;   Rev.  2,  2. 

14th.  We  believe  that  all  the  gifts  &  graces  that  are  bestowed  on  any  of 
the  members,  are  to  be  improved  for  the  good  of  the  whole,  in  order  to 
which  there  ought  to  be  such  a  gospel  freedom,  whereby  the  Church  may 
know  where  every  particular  gift  is,  that  it  may  be  improved  in  its  proper 
place,  &  to  its  right  end,  for  the  glory  of  God,  &  for  the  good  of  the  Church. 
Acts  18,  24,  25;  Rom.  12,  6-8. 

15th.  The  confession  of  faith  agreed  upon  by  the  Assembly  of  Divines 
at  Westminster  we  fully  agree  to  in  everv  respect,  as  to  the  substance  of 
the  same. 

i6th.  We  would  always  have  recourse  to  the  Platform  agreed  upon  by 
the  Synod  at  Cambridge  in  New  England,  A.D.  1648;  &  for  the  fuller 
explanation  of  our  own  sentiments  respecting  Church  discipline,  &c.  we 
will  always  be  willing  to  be  guided  thereby  with  the  following  exceptions 
«&  emendations,  viz  :  Chap,  i,  at  the  close  of  the  4^^  Section:  Respecting 
human  determinations  upon  times  &  places  of  Divine  worship,  being 
accounted  as  if  they  were  Divine,  we  except  against.  Chap.  4,  Sectio?i 
4:  Respecting  a  constant  practice  in  meeting  together  for  Publick  worship 
&  a  subjection  &  silent  consent  to  the  ordinances  of  Christ,  being  suffi- 
cient to  constitute  a  church,  we  except  against.  Chap.  6,  Sec.  5  :  We  think 
Pastor  &  Teacher  are  not  distinct  officers,  but  both  may  reside  in  one  Per- 
son. Chap.  7.  Sec.  2  :  The  power  of  the  Eldership  respecting  spiritual  rule, 
we  hold  doth  reside  in  them  jointly  &  severally,  &  may  be  accordingly 
exercised. 

Chap.  ID,  Sec.  6  :  Respecting  the  Direction  of  a  Council  being  necessary 
in  order  for  a  Church  to  remove  their  Pastor,  we  do  except  against ;  Sec.  8  : 
We  judge  the  Elders  ought  to  call  the  Church  together  when  desired  by 
any  one  member,  »&  whenever  the  church  is  mett,  the  brethren  have  a  right 
one  by  one,  (asking  leave)  to  declare  their  mind,  without  interruption  or 
hindrance,  and  that  the  Elders  have  no  power  to  adjourn  or  dissolve  meet- 
ings without  a  vote  of  the  Church  ;  Sec.  13  :  Respecting  the  Elders  having 
a  negative  voice,  we  except  against,  as  not  being  founded  upon  the  Scrip- 
tures. Chap.  13,  Sec.  4.  Respecting  magistrates  having  a  power  to  force 
people  to  contribute  for  the  support  of  the  gospel,  we  except  against,  being 
not  intrusted  with  the  support  of  the  same ;  that  the  church  have  power  to 
deal  with  all  such  as  will  not,  if  able,  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  gos- 
pel, we  hold,  and  also   that  by  the  Holy  Scriptures,  Gifts  may  be  received 


204  Congregatio7ial  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

but  not  forced  from  any  without.  C/iap.i^,  Sec.  7.  Upon  that  respecting 
Baptised  Infants  being  in  a  more  hopeful  way  of  attaining  Regenerating 
grace  than  others,  we  say :  They  have  no  more  power  to  attain  it  them- 
selves than  unbaptized  ones.  Chaf.  14,  Sec.  9.  Respecting  the  lawfulness 
of  a  worthy  member  partaking  with  profane  and  scandalous  persons,  we 
except  against.  Chap.  15,  Sec.  2.  Respecting  the  Churches  calling  in  the 
Council  of  other  Churches,  we  approve  of,  with  this  addition,  viz.  :  when 
the  church  proceed  to  call  a  council,  it  does  not  in  the  least  prevent  or  hin- 
der the  third  way  of  communion,  if  occasion  require,  after  such  council  be 
dismissed.  Chap.  17,  Sec.  9.  Respecting  the  magistrates  having  a  coer- 
cive power,  or  right  to  punish  a  church  that  rends  itself  off  from  the 
Churches,  being  by  them  judged  incorrigible  and  schismatick,  we  except 
against. 

17th.  We  think  it  our  duty,  and  hereby  each  one  of  us  doth  for  himself, 
oblige  ourselves  to  pay  towards  the  support  of  the  Gospel  amongst  us, 
according  to  our  respective  abilities.     I  Cor.  9,  7 ;  I  Tim.  5,  18;   Gal.  6,  6. 

iSth.  Lastly,  that  if  notwithstanding  our  great  care  in  the  admition  of 
a  Pastor  or  Pastors,  or  other  officers,  any  or  either  of  them  should  deny  or 
walk  contrary  to  these  Doctrines,  and  persist  therein,  then  in  such  a  case 
said  Person,  or  Persons,  shall  no  longer  have  any  power  or  authority  in 
the  Church,  but  shall  be,  and  hereby  are,  debarred  therefrom,  until  mani- 
fest tokens  of  their  Humiliation  and  Repentance.  II  John  7,  10;  I  Tim.  i, 
17-20. 

Witness  our  hands  which  we  now  put  in  the  presence  of  the  great  God, 
and  a  council  of  these  Churches,  viz.  :  one  from  Boston,  and  the  other  from 
Plainfield,  this  22d  day  of  May,  Anno  Domini  1746. 

Joseph  Perkins,  James  Eveleth, 

Solomon  Giddings,  Jr.,  Thomas  Choate, 

Thomas  Choate,  Jr.,  Francis  Choate, 

Lemuel  Giddings,  Jacob  Perkins,  Jr. 

D. 

THE    PRINCIPLES   AND   FUNDAMENTALS  OF  MR.  JOHN 
CLEAVELAND'S  FAITH. 

1.  I  l)elieve  that  there  is  but  one  God,  infinite,  eternal  and  immutable 
in  his  Being,  infinitely  wise,  just,  holy,  good,  merciful,  true  and  great;  yea 
omnipotent,  omniscient,  omnipresent  and  omnivigilant,  in  his  Divine 
Attributes  and  perfections ;  existing  necessarily  and  independently,  on 
whom  depend  all  other  existent  Beings. 

2.  I  believe  that  in  this  undivided  Godhead,  there  is  a  mysterious  Trinity 
of  subsistences  or  persons  —  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost -^  one  in  sub- 
stance, co-equal,  co-essential  and  co-eternal  in  power  and  glory.  Tkis  is 
a  mystery.    I  believe^  but  can't  coynprehejid. 

3.  I  believe  that  this  great  and  glorious  God  created  all  things,  both 
material  and  immaterial  for  the  Declaration,  Manifestation  and  Display  of 
his  own  Glory. 


Two  HundrcdtlL  Anniversary.  205 

4.  I  believe  that  when  God  made  man  in  his  own  image  and  likeness, 
(as  he  did),  he  endowed  him  with  power  to  fulfill  the  conditions  of  the 
covenant  of  works  that  he  was  made  under ;  that  he  was  to  have  life  upon 
Iiis  fulfilling  said  conditions;  and  that  he  was  to  act,  not  only  for  himself 
as  a  single  person  but  for  his  whole  Posterity  as  their  public  Head  and 
Representative  :  so  that  they  were  to  be  sharers  with  him  as  he  should  suc- 
ceed, either  well  or  ill. 

5.  I  believe  that  man  being  left  to  the  freedom  of  his  own  will,  by  the 
instigation  and  seduction  of  Satan  fell  from  that  state  of  rectitude,  holiness, 
Justice  and  innocence  in  which  he  was  made,  into  a  state  of  sin  and  misery, 
alienation  and  death,  corporal,  spiritual  and  eternal : 

That  by  this  fall  he  lost  communion  with  God,  having  the  powers  and 
faculties  of  his  soul  entirely  polluted,  vitiated,  and  filled  with  enmity  against 
a  holy  God,  and  all  true  holiness; 

That  hereby  he  with  his  whole  posterity  lost  all  power  and  will  to  do 
anything  in  the  least  pleasing  to  God;  and  had  his  mind  so  blinded  as  to 
call  evil,  good,  and  good,  evil. 

6.  I  believe  that  God  from  all  eternity  was  self-moved,  out  of  his  sov- 
ereign good  will  and  pleasure,  to  elect  and  predestinate  a  certain  particular 
and  determinate  number  of  Adam's  posterity  to  Eternal  Life;  and  that 
God  the  Father  entered  into  a  compact  and  covenant  of  Redemption  with 
the  Son  of  his  Love,  to  free  them  from  a  state  of  sin  and  misery  and  to 
bring  them  into  a  state  of  reconciliation,  bliss  and  everlasting  Glory: 

That  in  order  that  the  Son  of  God  should  fulfill  his  engaged  part  in  this 
Covenant,  he  took  to  himself  (in  a  new  relation  by  a  hypostatical  union) 
a  soul  and  body  of  our  human  nature;  and  this  Immanuel,  being  holy, 
harmless  and  undefiled,  fully  obeyed  the  Law  actively,  and  entirel}^  satisfied 
all  its  righteous  demands,  by  his  once  offering  up  himself,  a  sacrifice  to  sat- 
isfy Divine  Justice  : 

That  hereby  he  consecrated  a  way  into  the  Holy  of  Holies  by  his  own 
blood,  that  whosoever  will,  may  come  and  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely, 
gratis  : 

That  hereby  the  way  is  opened  for  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to 
work  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure. 

7.  I  believe  that  those  and  only  those  that  are  elect  according  to  the 
foreknowledge  of  God,  are  in  due  time  eftectually  called  out  of  darkness 
into  marvelous  light,  by  the  supernatural  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit: 

That  they  be  hereby  convinced  of  actual  and  original  sin  and  trans- 
gression—  of  the  righteousness  of  God's  holy  law — the  righteousness  of 
God's  sovereignty — and  the  necessity  of  a  perfect  and  pure  righteousness 
in  order  to  stand  before  God  in  peace  : 

That  they  are  convinced  by  Divine  illuminations  of  the  completeness 
and  suitableness  of  Christ's  righteousness  for  persons  in  just  such  circum- 
stances as  they  are  in  : 

That  by  the  effectual  power  of  the  most  high  God,  they  are  brought  to 
obey  the  call  of  God,  in  embracing  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Prophet,  Priest 


2o6  Conanreo-ational  CJntrch  and  Parish,  Essex. 


"<b '  "i) 


and  King,  cordially  acquiescing  in  and  consenting  to  the  waj'  and  terms  of 
salvation  through  Christ. 

8.  I  believe  that  they  are  justified  freelj-  for  the  sake  alone  of  the  im- 
puted righteousness  of  Christ,  received  by  faith  without  the  deeds  of  the 
law  in  the  least  regard  : 

That  this  faith  is  the  gift  wrought  by  the  power  of  God  in  the  soul  (being 
the  first  act  of  the  new  creature)  ;  and  that  Gospel  repentance  is  concomi- 
tant with  faith  in  time^  and  consequent  upon  it  in  the  order  of  nature  : 

That  the  evidences  of  justification  are:  i.  Faith  that  works  by  love ; 
2.  Sanctification  in  the  Heart;  3.  The  Spirit  of  God  witnessing  with  our 
spirit  that  we  are  the  children  of  God. 

9.  I  believe  that  all  justified  persons  are  endowed  with  a  spirit  of  adop- 
tion influencing  them  to  cry  Abba  Father — My  Lord  and  my  God : 

That  this  adoption  exists  by  virtue  of  their  union  to  Jesus  Christ  their 
Head  and  husband,  elder  brother  and  joint  heir  : 

That  their  union  to  him  is  a  mysterious  divine  union,  being  made  one 
with  him,  yet  so  as  he  remains  very  God,  and  they  very  finite  creatures  as 
to  the  dignities  of  their  persons  or  capacities  or  faculties. 

10.  I  believe  that  santification  does  begin  in  the  souls  of  believers  when 
the  act  of  justification  is  passed  in  their  souls  (or  that  justification  and  the 
beginning  of  santification  are  instantaneous,)  and  is  carried  on  progres- 
sively and  perseveringly  till  they  are  made  complete  in  holiness  by  the 
same  Spirit  that  effectually  calls  them  : 

That  they  never  will  be  complete  in  holiness,  while  in  these  mortal 
tabernacles  of  our  fleshly  bodies. 

11.  I  believe  that  true  justifying  faith  is  a  living  and  not  a  dead  faith, 
and  is  evidenced  by  good  works  (agreeably  to  the  holy  law  of  God,  which 
I  take  to  be  the  rule  of  the  christian's  life)  flowing  from  a  principle  of  life 
or  Divine  love  : 

That  no  works  are  pleasing  to  God  before  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  from  us 
i-ebels ;  and  consequently  God  will  graciously  hear  no  prayers  with  delight 
which  are  not  put  up  to  him  in  faith,  notwithstanding  the  high  obligation 
there  is  upon  all  rational  creatures  to  pray  continually  to  God,  whether 
converted  or  unconverted. 

12.  T  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  has  an  invisible  church,  his  mystical 
body,  made  up  of  all  the  believers  (or  saints)  in  heaven  and  on  earth. 

13.  I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  has  a  visible  church  here  below,  made  up 
of  those  that  in  the  judgement  of  charity  do  believe  with  the  heart  and  con- 
fess with  the  tongue — who  visibly  covenant  and  agree  to  walk  in  all  the 
ordinances  and  commands  of  Christ  blameless  : 

That  this  church  has  power  from  Christ  to  choose  such  officers  as  he 
hath  appointed  to  be  in  his  church,  viz.  :  Pastors,  Ruling  Elders  and  Dea- 
cons : 

That  they  are  to  be  ordained  and  appointed  to  their  several  offices  by  im- 
position of  hands;  which  power  of  ordination,  Jesus  Christ  who  is  the 
true  Head  of  his  church  has  given  to  his  churches  as  their  privilege  : 


Two  HiindredtJi  Anniversary .  207 

That  every  member  of  this  church  is  under  obligation  to  use  the  gift 
given  him  by  Christ  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  : 

That  such  a  church  is  to  walk  together  in  brotherly  love,  both  officers 
and  brethren,  not  seeking  superiority  and  preeminence  ;  remembering  that 
there  is  but  one  Head,  even  Christ  Jesus,  w^ho  is  God  blessed  forever: 

That  the  members  of  such  a  church  are  to  have  a  mutual  watch  over  one 
another  to  stir  up  and  exhort  one  another,  to  provoke  to  love  and  good 
works ;  and  that  in  case  God  should  condescend  to  refresh  his  saints  with 
the  Heavenly  gales  of  his  overflowing  love,  so  as  with  a  shout  of  triumph 
they  should  be  constrained  to  breathe  out  acclamations  of  praise  to  the 
Lamb  of  God,  the  whole  should  rejoice  with  them. 

14.  I  believe  that  there  are  but  two  sacraments  to  be  observed  in  the 
Gospel  church,  viz. :  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper : 

That  Baptism  is  to  be  administered  to  none  but  visible  believers  and  their 
infant  seed,  and  is  an  external  initiating  seal  of  the  covenant  of  Grace: 

That  the  Lord's  Supper  belongs  to  all  true  believers  in  Christ  that  can 
act  understandingly  in  the  participation  of  it;  and  that  it  is  designed  as  a 
means  to  refresh,  comfort,  establish,  feed,  nourish  and  confirm  the  saints 
of  God  in  faith,  love,  humility  and  patience. 

15.  I  believe  that  the  record  of  God  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
is  in  itself  a  perfect  Rule,  and  in  the  hands  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  leads  and 
guides  us  to  heaven  : 

That  it  is  life  and  spirit,  marrow  and  fatness  to  the  believing  saint;  that 
it  contains  great  and  precious  promises  in  Christ  for  believers  only,  and 
awful  and  tremendous  curses  for  all  unbelievers,  while  such. 

16.  I  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  just  and  the  unjust,  which  will 
be  at  the  final  consummation  of  this  world. 

17.  I  believe  that  we  must  all  stand  before  the  Bar  of  God  to  be  tried 
for  an  endless  eternity. 

18.  I  believe  that  the  saints  at  this  decisive  day  will  be  openly  acquitted 
and  absolved  from  all  sin,  guilt  and  bondage,  and  be  made  perfectly  blessed 
and  happy  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  God  to  a  whole  eternity. 

19.  I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  —  the  Lamb  slain — will  be  the  glorious 
judge  of  Quick  and  Dead. 

20.  And  lastly,  I  believe  that  at  this  great  and  awful  day  of  inquisition 
or  judgement,  the  wicked  unbelievers  and  all  ungodly  men  will  receive  from 
Christ  their  awful  and  final  sentence  of  eternal  condemnation,  and  shall  be 
committed  into  the  state  of  exquisite  torment  for  ever  and  ever. 

E. 

MR.     CLEAVELAND'S     PETITION    TO    THE    COLLEGE 

FACULTY. 

"To  the  Rev'd  and  Hon'd  Rector  and  Tutors  of  Yale  College  in  New- 
Haven. 

Rev'd  and  Hon'd  :  — 

It  hath  been  a  very  great  concern  and  trouble  to  me,  that  my  conduct  in 


208  Congregatiojial  CJnirch   and  Parish,  Essex. 

the  late  vacancy  has  been  such  as  not  to  maintain  interest  in  jour  favor, 
and  still  retain  the  great  privileges  that  1  have  enjojed  for  three  jears  past 
under  jour  learned,  wise  and  faithful  instruction  and  government.  Nothing 
of  an  outward  nature  can  equally  affect  me  with  that  of  being  hencefor- 
ward wholly  secluded  from  the  same. 

Hon'd  Fathers,  suffer  me  to  lie  at  jour  feet,  and  entreat  jour  compas- 
sionate forgiveness  to  an  offending  child  wherein  I  have  trangressed. 

Venerable  Sirs  :  I  entreat  jou,  for  jour  pastoral  wisdom  and  clemencj, 
to  make  in  mj  case  such  kind  allowance  for  the  want  of  that  penetration 
and  solid  judgment  expected  in  riper  heads  —  as  tender  parents  are  nat- 
urallj  disposed  in  respect  of  their  weak  children.  But  more  especially  I 
beg  to  be  admitted  in  the  humblest  manner  to  suggest  as  a  motive  of  jour 
compassion  to  the  ignorant  —  that  I  did  not  know  it  was  a  trangression  of 
either  the  Laws  of  God,  this  Colonj,  or  the  College,  for  me  as  a  member, 
and  in  covenant  with  a  particular  church,  as  is  generallj  owned  to  be  a 
church  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  meet  together  with  a  major  part  of  said  church 
for  social  worship.  And,  therefore,  do  beg  and  entreat  that  mj  ignorance 
maj  be  suffered  to  apologise.  For  in  respect  to  that  fact,  which  to  riper 
heads  maj  appear  to  be  a  real  transgression,  I  can  assure  jou,  Venerable 
Sirs,  that  I  have  endeavored  to  keep  and  observe  all  the  known  laws,  and 
customs  of  College  unblamablj.  And  I  hope  I  shall  for  the  future  be  en- 
abled so  to  do,  if  I  maj  be  restored  to  a  standing  again  in  mj  class.  Thus 
begging  jour  compassion,  I  subscribe  jour  humble  servant  and  obedient 
pupil, 

John  Cleveland. 

New  Haven,  Nov.  26,  1744." 

The  conclusion  of  the  "Admonition"  is  as  follows  : 

"Whereupon  it  is  considered  and  adjudged  bj  Rector  and  Tutors,  that 
the  said  John  and  Ebenezer  Cleaveland,  in  withdrawing  and  separating 
from  the  public  worship  of  God,  and  attending  upon  the  preaching  of  a 
laj  exhorter  as  aforesaid,  have  acted  contrarj  to  the  laws  of  the  Colonj, 
and  of  the  College,  and  that  the  said  Cleavelands  shall  be  publiclj  admon- 
ished for  their  faults  aforesaid,  and  if  thej  shall  continue  to  justifj  them- 
selves, and  refuse  to  make  acknowledgment,  thej  shall  be  expelled." 

F. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  MR.  CLEAVE  LAxND'S  NARRATIVE  OF 

THE  REVIVAL  OF  1763-64. 

Inasmuch  as  it  hath  pleased  God,  who  is  rich  in  mercy,  to  visit  us  of  late, 
in  these  parts,  with  the  gracious  influences  of  his  blessed  Spirit,  in  the 
conviction  and  hopeful  conversion  of  manj  persons;  more  especiallj  in 
Chebacco,  which  belongs  to  Ipswich,  of  the  province  of  the  Massachusetts 
Baj  :  And  as  we  are  to  declare  God's  doings  among  the  people,  and  to  make 
mention  that  his  name  is  exalted  ;  I  have  some  time  had  it  in  mj  heart,  to 
give  a  short  narrative  of  this  work. 


Two  HundredtJi  Aiuiiversary.  209 

The  Public  have,  some  years  since,  been  informed  of  tlie  grounds  and 
reasons  of  the  people  of  my  charge  becoming  a  distinct  worshipping 
assembly  from  the  second  church  and  parish  in  Ipswich, 

I  was  ordained  their  pastor,  Feb.  25,  O.  S.  1747,  by  a  Council  of  Congre- 
gational churches.  The  church  I  stand  related  to  as  pastor,  in  point  of 
church  discipline  and  government,  is  strictly  congregational  according  to 
Cambridge  Platform  ;  and  in  point  of  doctrine  quite  orthodox  according  to 
the  New  England,  or  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  or  their  catechisms. 
And  in  point  of  experimental  religion,  consists  of  such  in  general,  (before 
the  late  work)  as  profess  to  have  met  with  a  change  of  heart  in  the  time 
of  the  more  general  reformation,  which  was  in  1742,  and  thereabouts  : 
And  altho'  God  never  left  us  without  witness  of  his  gracious  presence  with 
us  under  the  administration  of  gospel  ordinances,  and  there  were  some 
few  instances  of  hopeful  conversions  in  the  time  of  the  general  declension 
of  Christians,  yet  we  must  acknowledge  with  shame,  that  we  rendered  not 
again  according  to  the  benefits  done  to  us,  but  greatly  lost  our  first  love. 

Sometime  in  the  month  of  October,  this  year  (1763),  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Francis  Worcester  came  to  preach  to  my  people  one  Sabbath.  He  came 
early  in  the  week  and  preached  several  lectures  before  the  Sabbath  and 
several  after,  and  took  his  leave  of  us  with  a  lecture  to  young  people;  and 
as  their  attention  was  roused  by  his  other  discourses,  divers  things  in  this 
took  such  fast  hold  on  their  consciences,  that  they  could  not  shake  them  off". 

A  little  while  after,  I  exchanged  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Chandler,  of 
Gloucester,  and  as  he  understood  there  was  a  number  of  persons  imder 
awakenings  in  my  congregation,  he  adapted  his  discourses  to  their  case, 
and  his  preaching  that  day  was  own'd  of  God  for  the  begetting  convictions 
in  some,  and  for  increasing  them  in  others.  They  now  frequented  our 
religious  conference  meetings,  and  at  these,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  dis- 
coursing to  them  more  particularly  about  the  great  concerns  of  their  souls ; 
and  once  a  week  the  young  people  assembled  at  the  house  of  one  of  our 
deacons,  (besides  the  weekly  conference)  when  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
discoursing  to  them  familiarly  of  their  soul-concerns. 

In  the  afternoon,  Mr.  Parsons  preached  a  very  suitable  sermon  ;  the 
meeting-house  was  as  full  of  people  as  it  could  be;  people  came  from  the 
parishes  all  around  us  :  There  was  a  solemn  silence  thro'  the  whole  assem- 
bly during  the  time  of  divine  service,  and  a  sacred  awe  on  every  counte- 
nance ;  never  did  I  see  an  assembly  more  solemn  before  !  It  was  near  nine 
o'clock  this  evening,  before  the  people  could  be  prevailed  with  to  leave  the 
meeting-house.  As  the  people  were  now  inclined  to  assemble  for  religious 
exercise,  and  their  attention  was  roused,  I  appointed  another  lecture  to  be 
on  Friday  this  weeek  ;  and  from  this  time  till  the  Spring  business  came  on, 
we  had  two  lectures  in  the  meeting-house  every  week,  on  Tuesdays  and 
Thursdays  :  The  first  was  the  most  remarkable  week  I  ever  saw;  and  from 
that  time  to  the  Spring,  our  meeting-house  was  crowded  as  full  as  it  could 
hold  when  we  met,  both  on  the  Lord's  days  and  week  days. 

Divers  persons  from  other  towns  and  parishes,  were  bro't  under  concern, 

27 


2  10  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

viz.  :  from  Ipswich-town  and  the  Hamlet,  Gloucester,  Manchester,  Beverly, 
Wenham,  some  from  Topsfield,  Rowley,  Linebrook,  Bjfield,  Newbury  and 
Newburyport;  and  divers  were  hopefully  converted. 

Divers  ministers  came  over  to  our  help,  and  preached  on  our  lecture  days. 
And  there  was  not  a  sermon  preached,  as  I  could  learn,  but  what  was 
attended  with  the  blessing  of  God,  either  to'bring  on  conviction  of  sin  in 
some,  or  to  bring  comfort  to  others  ;  that  is,  to  bring  some  out  of  darkness 
into  light,  and  to  comfort  and  refresh  such  as  had  received  light  and  com- 
fort  before. 

As  a  considerable  number  of  our  young  men,  who  were  bro't  under  con- 
cern at  the  beginning  of  this  work,  remained  under  concern,  exceedingly 
bowed  down  for  divers  weeks,  we  tho't  it  proper  to  turn  our  Tuesday  lec- 
ture into  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  for  them,  and  for  the  pouring  out  of 
the  Spirit  upon  all ;  and  it  was  a  remarkable  day,  some  new  instances  of 
persons  bro't  under  convictions,  and  several  of  these  that  had  long  been 
bowed  down  were  made  free,  I  trust,  by  the  Son,  so  as  to  be  free  indeed. 

Towards  the  last  of  February,  divers  persons  having  signified  their  de- 
sire to  make  a  public  profession  of  Christ,  and  to  be  admitted  into  the 
church  in  full  standing,  I  gave  notice  that  the  Elders  of  this  Church  would 
meet  at  my  house,  such  a  day,  to  hear  and  take  down  in  writing,  the  gracious 
experiences  of  such  as  had  a  mind  to  be  admitted  members  of  this  church. 

On  the  day  appointed,  such  a  number  met  as  filled  my  house;  I  began  to 
write  a  little  after  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  never  rose  from  the  table 
till  about  sun-setting;  I  took  down  some  of  the  most  material  things,  in 
the  experience  of  twenty  and  two  persons,  from  their  verbal  relation  to  the 
Elders.  Now  I  had  an  opportunity  to  judge  of  the  nature  of  the  work, 
and  was  surprised  to  hear  what  great  things  God  had  done  for  many,  who 
were  very  carnal  and  vain  but  a  few  months  before!  When  I  arose  from 
the  table  I  went  into  another  room,  where  the  people  were  chiefly  gathered, 
and  it  was  as  full  as  it  could  hold,  and  I  stood  astonished!  I  never  saw 
anything  equal  to  it  before ;  the  room  appeared  full  of  God  !  Not  a  person 
to  be  seen  but  what  was  at  prayer,  either  for  themselves,  or  over  some  par- 
ticular person  or  other  in  distress. 

About  a  month  after  this,  we  took  into  the  Church  thirty  and  two  per- 
sons more ;  and  the  whole  number  of  those  we  admitted  in  the  space  of 
seven  or  eight  months,  was  upwards  of  ninety,  but  above  two-thirds  of 
them  were  females,  I  have  heard  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Parsons  of  Newburj-- 
port,  admitted  about  that  time,  upwards  of  fifty;  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jewett 
of  Rowley,  about  thirty;  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Chandler  of  Gloucester,  a  con- 
siderable number,  but  I  have  not  heard  hpw  many. 

In  the  Fall  of  the  year,  and  especially  near  that  season  of  the  year,  that  • 
the  work  so  remarkably  began  a  twelve  month  before,  there  was  not  only  a 
considerable  revival  of  those  who  had  received  comfort;  but  several  new 
instances  of  hopeful  conversions,  and  divers  bro't  under  convictions,  who 
had  been  pretty  secure,  and  the  convictions  of  others  revived.  And  the 
next  day  after  the  Anniversary  Thanksgiving  this  year  (1764)  was  kept  by 


Tzvo  Hundredth  Anniversary.  2ii 

our  congregation  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving,  for  God's  remarkablj  gracious 
visitation  to  us  with  his  divine  influences,  the  preceding  jear. 

G. 

PASSAGES  FROM  "CHEBACCO  NARRATIVE  RESCUED,  &c." 

Now^  view^  the  separation  at  Chebacco,  and  see  what  they  have  done :  and 
whether  it  deserves  the  name  of  a  separation.  Have  thej  separated  from 
the  faith  profess'd  by  these  churches?  No,  they  adhere  close  to  it.  Have 
they  separated  from  the  established  rule  of  order,  worship  and  discipline, 
of  these  churches?  No,  they  have  got  nearer  to  them  than  ever;  are  more 
exact  and  careful  (if  not  more  conscientious  too)  than  is  common.  These 
things  are  indubitable.  Well,  what  in  the  world  is  the  matter.?  What 
have  they  done,  that  renders  them  so  obnoxious.?  Where  are  those  corrupt 
principles  and  wicked  designs  to  be  found,  they  are  so  often  charged  with  in 
theanswer.  There  is  a  great  cry  indeed,  and  not  only  the  city  but  the  whole 
country,  according  to  some,  must  be  hurried  and  huddled  together  to  view 
this  great  .sight;  this  new  thing  that  has  happened  at  Chebacco,  and  to  ex- 
press their  resentments.  Well,  suppose  they  should  assemble,  what  matter 
of  wonder  would  they  see?  Why,  this  they  would  see;  that  a  number  of 
christians  that  us'd  to  meet  and  worship  God  on  the  w^est-side  of  the  road, 
now  meet  for  that  purpose  on  the  east-side.  They  would  find  that  instead 
of  their  sitting  under  the  preaching  and  administration  of  their  former 
pastor,  now  deceased,  who  they  did  not  like,  and  under  whose  ministration 
they  could  not  profit  or  be  easy ;  they  sit  under  the  ministration  of  Mr. 
Cleaveland,  whom  they  do  like,  and  hy  whom  they  are  better  edified.  They 
would  further  see,  that  instead  of  a  lecture  once  a  month,  they  have  it  once 
a  week;  and  that  instead  of  living  without  some  of  the  oflicers  the  consti- 
tution requires,  as  formerly;  they  now  have  them.  In  short,  they  would 
find  their  doctrines  sound  and  orthodox;  their  discipline  strict,  yet  tender 
and  moderate ;  their  worship  serious  and  devout,  and  their  lives  sober, 
humble  and  discreet.  They  would  find  them  willing  to  pay  all  their  be- 
hindments  due  to  their  deceased  pastor;  and  that  they  have  made  proposals 
of  reunion  with  the  adhering  part  of  the  church  and  parish,  and  yet  could 
not  obtain  so  much  as  a  conference  for  that  purpose.  It's  true,  they  would 
also  find  that  they  had  left  without  leave  the  society  and  communion  of  the 
pastor  and  church,  who  had  used  them  so  ill,  as  has  been  represented  ;  and 
which,  if  it  did  not  amount  to  a  total  subversion  of  the  ends  of  the  gospel, 
yet  it  was  a  great  clog  and  hindrance  to  their  edification.  And  with  respect 
to  the  priviledges  of  the  members  under  such  difficulties,  they  were  totally 
deprived  and  left  without  hope  of  it's  ever  being  otherwise.  And  this  is 
what  they  plead,  for  their  separation  from  that  pastor  and  that  sett  of  mem- 
bers. And  that's  all  they  have  to  do.  For,  from  the  faith  and  fellowship, 
worship  and  discipline,  communion  and  order  of  these  churches,  they  have 
not  separated.  And  what  great  cause  of  wonder  would  arise  from  all  this.? 
And  in  what  respect  would  it  deserve  the  frowns  of  the  spectators.?     Is  not 


212  Congregational  CJmrch  and  Parish,  Essex. 

here  a  mighty  bustle  about  a  very  little  matter?  A  great  out-cry  for  no 
great  cause  ?  Yea  worse,  a  threatening  of  censure  on  pretence  of  the  breach 
of  order,  and  of  the  constitution.  When  the  case  is  quite  otherwise ;  so 
far  from  a  breach  of  the  constitution  and  order  of  these  churches,  that  it  is 
rather  a  resumption  and  reavowment  of  it.  As  whatever  they  have  varied 
from  the  constitution,  in  this  act,  may  I  think  fitly  be  compared  to  a  vessel 
carried  out  of  her  course  or  latitude  by  a  side  wind  or  cross  current,  which 
puts  about,  and  stands  seemingly  back,  to  regain  the  same  :  Or  to  a  travel- 
ler who  has  been  led  or  forced  out  of  his  road,  who  treads  back  his  wrong 
path  in  order  to  get  right. 

I  answer  and  freely  own,  that  in  the  first  of  those  religious  operations, 
some  persons  were  too  warm,  and  apt  to  censure  others,  and  in  some  cases 
appeared  more  showey  than  was  decent,  as  I  apprehended.  But  then  you 
must  observe,  that  what  they  were  so  warm  about,  was  the  great  things  in 
religion ;  which  methinks  should  in  some  measure  plead  their  excuse. 
They  adhered  to,  and  earnestly  contended  for  the  faith,  and  other  doctrines 
of  the  reformation,  in  maintenance  of  which  the  martyrs  embraced  the 
stake  ;  and  to  which  also  our  forefathers  adhered.  Nor  did  I  ever  perceive, 
who  had  opportunity  of  observing  them,  that  the  Antinomian  errors  got 
ground  among  them.  A  holy  life  and  walk  with  God,  their  hearts  were 
much  set  on ;  they  apprehended  with  the  apostle,  that  they  ought  not  to 
fashion  themselves  according  to  the  customs  of  this  world  ;  that  the  gospel 
prize  was  weighty,  and  required  more  wrestling  and  striving  for,  than  most 
men  were  aware  of.  They  had  a  quick  and  tender  sense  of  divine  things; 
they  tasted  that  God  was  gracious ;  and  that  his  word  was  sweet,  and  they 
loved  it  exceedingly,  and  the  like.  Hence  they  were  hardly  easy  but  when 
in  religious  exercises  :  And  as  every  nature  delights  to  promote  its  kind, 
they  would  frequently  call  on  others,  not  only  to  be  helpers  of  their  faith 
and  joy,  but  to  share  in  it  themselves  :  And  when  they  met  with  neglect 
and  cruel  reproaches,  as  sometimes  they  did,  they  were  too  easily  caught 
in  the  snare  of  impatience,  and  their  own  spirit  perhaps  being  over-heated, 
as  I  believe  is  common  in  such  cases,  they  sometimes  spoke  unadvisedly 
with  their  lips,  in  way  of  censure  and  reproach  of  others.  And  they  that 
well  knew  the  whole  of  the  matter  will,  I  am  persuaded,  say,  they  had  too 
much  provocation.  Thej'  have  been  long  since  convinced  of  this  error,  and 
behave  with  the  meekness  becoming  christians.  However,  great  advantage 
was  made  of  these  things;  they  were  multiply'd  and  aggravated  then,  as 
we  find  them  now  in  the  answer;  and  indeed,  to  such  a  degree  did  those 
calumnies  proceed,  and  such  a  clamour  was  raised  about  this  set  of  people, 
not  only  in  that  place,  but  elsewhere,  as  I  think  was  more  than  proportion- 
ate to  their  failings,  if  not  more  than  can  well  be  reconciled  with  the  spirit 
of  Christianity,  or  than  was  for  the  service  of  religion. 

Let  the  pastor  and  church  be  never  so  much  to  blame  in  former  times ; 
yet  at  length  they  make  up  all,  and  do  their  duty;  agree  to  have  council; 
but  then  the  aggrieved  will  not.  No,  their  majority,  fourteen  out  of  twenty- 
six,  refuse  it.  (Page  15.)     And  here  at  last  you  have  found  a  resting  place 


Two  HnndrcdtJi  Annivcrsaiy.  213 

for  the  sole  of  jour  foot;  a  something,  whereby  to  justify  you,  and  bring 
you  off,  under  all  your  former  neglect,  which  otherwise  you  have  own'd, 
would  not  be  excusable;  and  now  turn  the  whole  blame  on  the  aggrieved. 
Hence  also,  principally,  you  would  make  out  your  pretensions  of  falshood 
in  the  narrative,  and  justify  all  the  calumny  and  reproach,  with  which  you 
have  loaded  the  authors.  Hence,  you  would  represent  them  as  artful, 
plotting,  deceitful;  and  in  short,  as  vile  a  pack  of  knaves,  as  ever  were. 
This  you  place  as  a  castle  within  your  tottering  walls,  and  frequently  fly 
to  it  when  they  tumble;  as  for  want  of  foundation,  and  suitable  materials 
they  often  do,  even  while  you  are  endeavouring  to  build  them  up.  This 
you  sew  as  pillows  under  your  arm-holes,  and  fix  as  bladders  to  support 
and  keep  you  from  sinking  under  the  weight  and  justice  of  the  cause,  you 
are  endeavouring  to  overset.  You  repeat,  multiply,  and  magnify  this 
thing ;  you  use  it  negatively  and  postively ;  dress,  new  dress,  and  new  shape 
it,  and  make  it  serve  to  purposes,  more  than  one  could  well  imagine.  In 
short,  it  is  the  burden  of  your  song,  and  almost  become  stale,  and  a  by- 
word in  your  answer.  It's  plain  you  esteem  it  as  your  dernier  resort,  and 
as  a  city  of  refuge,  on  almost  every  occasion;  and  when  you  are  falling, 
here  you  catch  and  here  you  hang;  as  every  one  that  reads  your  answer, 
may  see.  But,  alas  for  you,  your  fingers  must  be  knock'd  off  this  hold; 
your  refuge  will  prove  but  a  refuge  of  lies.  This  bladder  must  be  pricked  ; 
these  pillows,  this  prop,  must  be  pluck'd  away.  This  castle,  from  whence 
so  many  arrows  dipt  in  gall,  have  been  shot  out  against  the  aggrieved,  their 
narrative,  and  their  cause,  must  be  demolished.  And  what  will  become  of 
your  confidence  then.'*  Must  it  not  be  as  the  spider's  web,  and  as  the  giv- 
ing up  of  the  ghost.? 

It  seems  by  you,  that  no  preacher  is  more  than  a  pretender,  if  he  preaches 
with  a  little  more  warmth  and  vigour  than  is  consistent  with  people's  going 
to  sleep  under  his  sermon,  tho'  never  so  close,  evangelical,  sound  and  or- 
thodox in  his  discourses.  No,  these  must  be  contemned  as  pretenders, 
while  not  a  cold,  formal,  or  Arminian  preacher,  can  be  found  in  the  coun- 
try, to  bear  any  part  of  your  contempt  and  resentment. 

"Stealing  away  the  hearts  of  the  injudicious."  So  you  see,  if  any  min- 
ister of  this  character  wins  a  person  to  a  good  liking  of  his  preaching,  the 
minister  must  be  a  thief,  and  the  man  a  fool.  And  just  so  it  was  in  the 
apostles  days;  all  men  were  fools,  that  they  caught  by  this  sort  of  guile, 
for  they  stole  many  a  heart  in  this  way;  and  a  great  disturbance  it  was  then 
accounted,  as  well  as  now.  However,  I  plead  not  for  men's  intruding 
themselves  into  other  men's  parishes ;  nor  do  I  know  that  any  great  dis- 
turbance has  been  given  to  ministers  of  late  by  this  means.  However,  if 
there  is,  I  would  suggest  something  that  I  am  satisfied  will  remove  it; 
namely  to  treat  the  ministers  and  christians  of  the  new-light  character 
with  a  little  more  justice  and  candor,  and  not  on  account  of  some  past 
disorder,  that  if  left  alone  would  soon  die  with  age,  go  on  to  despise,  dis- 
parage, and  discourage  them,  as  heretofore  they  have  done;  while  nothing 
material  can  be  objected  to  their  soundness  in  Christianity;  and  instead 


214  Congregational  Church  and  Parish,  Essex. 

thereof  turn  their  displeasure  against  the  broachers  and  maintainers  of 
such  tenets  as  are  subversive  of  the  gospel.  And  this  will  secure  the  hearts 
and  minds  of  their  people;  which  otherwise  are  so  injudicious  thej  cannot 
be  satisfied. 

And  1  have  as  little  doubt,  but  when  the  discovering  and  decisive  daj 
comes,  to  which  jour  answer,  with  a  strange  security,  I  think,  (considering 
what  it  is)  appeals;  when  the  question  will  not  be,  who  has  been  most 
artful  or  powerful,  or  made  most  ado  about  order ;  tho'  this  last  is  good  and 
a  dutv  in  its  place  and  measure  :  But  who  has  most  strove  to  promote  the 
spiritual  kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  world ;  who  has  most  contended  for  the 
faith  of  Jesus,  and  for  the  edification  and  comfort  of  the  saints,  who  has 
been  most  just,  merciful  and  kind  to  his  fellow-servant,  and  most  laboured 
to  loose  the  heavy  burdens,  and  let  the  oppressed  go  free.  Then,  I  say,  I 
have  no  doubt  but  the  cause  of  the  aggrieved,  and  those  who  have  appeared 
for  them,  will  meet  with  a  gracious  acceptation  from  the  Judge  :  Tho'  they 
now  sit  pensive  and  silent,  and  somewhat  low  like  the  Myrtle  Grove ;  not 
only  on  account  of  reproaches,  but  also  and  principally  in  regard  of  the 
withdraw  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  they  may  with  reason,  in  part  look 
upon  as  the  effect  of  their  own  failings. 

Truth  and  righteousness  will  never  rot;  no,  cover  them  with  what  sort  of 
filth  you  will,  yet  when  that  day  comes,  if  not  before,  they  will  get  upper- 
most, and  go  forth  as  brightness,  and  as  a  lamp  that  burneth. 

H. 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  CHURCH 

since  the  death  of  those  who  are  mentioned  in  the  latter  part  of  the  His- 
torical Discourse,  with  the  dates  of  their' election  and  of  their  resignation 
or  death. 

DEACONS. 

Caleb  Cogswell,  1862.  Caleb  S.  Gage,         1873. 

Leonard  Burnham,     1873-1880.  Francis  Goodhue,      1874. 

David  L.  Haskell,     1880. 

CLERKS. 

Caleb  Cogswell,     1863-1875.  Rufus  Choate,     1875. 

TREASURERS. 

Robert  W.  Burnham,      1874 — d.  August  13,  1876. 
Mrs.  Mary  C.   Osgood,     1876. 

SUPERINTENDENTS    OF    THE    SABBATH    SCHOOL. 

Caleb  Cogswell,  1873-1878.      Rev.  John  L.  Harris,     1878-1879. 

George  F.  Mears,  Esq.,  1879-1881.      David  L.   Haskell,  1881-1882. 

George  F.  Mears,  Esq.,     1883— d.  March  6,   1883. 
David  L.   Haskell,     1883. 


CORRECTIONS. 

p.  46,  line  30,  for  matters  read  matter. 

p.  69,  line  25,  for  naturall  law  read  naturall  love. 

p.  83,  foot-note,  for  1829  read  1629. 

p.  88,  line  10,  for  than  read  then. 

p.  97.  line  30,  for  department  read  deportment. 

p.  99,  line  28,  for  acceptable  read  acceptably. 


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